My darling little brother
by samettikettu
Summary: Two years after Ace's death, suspicion towards Sabo starts to raise and Luffy finds himself from a much greater danger than he had first anticipated. [Sequel to Be Mine Forever / Dark!Sabo / past brotherly!AceLu / Yandere!SaboLu / AU]
1. Chapter 1

**_[A/N]_ This thing is 40 pages long and I started this at January. It's now doneYAYi don't know what to do with my life anymore *sobs* I like this story too much**

 **You guys remember** _Be mine forever_ **? Ye? Well, this is the straight up sequel. If you haven't read it then I'd suggest you to give it a quick look first and then return to this. This is a "bit" more vulgar and more violent than the other one.**

 **I wanna thank my lovely beta who almost died five times because of this one. I almost killed them a few times too, and they tried to kill me. So I'd say it's a win-win. *thumbs up***

 **There will be an alternative ending to this which will be happier? (Can I say that Freckles? Can I really say it's happier? But it is!)**

 **Please, call me Satan :3c**

 **Characters © Eiichiro Oda**  
 **Story © samettikettu**  
 **Beta © freckledbastard and aye-i-could-do-that**

 ** _[...]_ text messages**

* * *

Spending the evening in a hospital lobby was never part of Law's Friday night plans. He'd have never guessed Luffy had such a vicious left hook on him. And just to make sure everything was alright, Law had ended up in the hospital and let the doctor on duty to give him a check up.

The snow storm had finally erupted outside and the roads were cut off because of the snow. Law fingered his phone, debating whether or not call his foster father to come and pick him up but knew Corazón would end up in the hospital bed with his rotten luck.  
Law was also tempted to call Luffy. It was his fault after all – this whole thing was.

 **xxxxx**

It all had begun two years ago, when Luffy's older brother had died.  
Ace had been loved by almost everyone in the small town, and seeing the two brothers together was never an odd sight. So seeing the youngest now alone wandering the streets like a lost puppy really hurt everybody's hearts.

Law couldn't say he thought the same about Luffy's other brother, Sabo.  
There was something odd about him, always had been. Ever since Law could remember, the second oldest had had a weird glint in his eyes when someone got too close to his brothers. Or, well… _brother_.

After the news of Ace's death were revealed, Law was in shock. The news had come out of the blue, completely unexpected. No one knew what to think of the whole ordeal.

The police had no suspects but doubted it was an accident or a suicide. The evidence showed that Ace had probably been tied up, by the way his body bent, when the storage house burnt down and there were no visible signs of a physical battle.  
All they could save was Ace's burnt body and a titan bracelet with a tracker in it.

Luffy wasn't seen in the school for the next month.  
Sabo wasn't seen at his work place neither.

The news had hit them hard, but what hit Luffy the hardest that the culprit was never captured. The police didn't know who to suspect.

Finally, a rumor spread out of nowhere.  
According to the rumor, a man named Marshall D. Teach had targeted both of the black haired D. brothers. Ace had found out of it just before the man had tried to attack his little brother. Ace sought out the man, no doubt looking for solid evidence to take to the police, but had been caught and killed.

The rumor spread like wildfire and eventually found its way to Luffy.

Sabo refused to let Luffy go to school without an escort. He wasn't allowed to go out with his friends at all until the man was caught.

This was almost two years ago.

The man was never caught and no one even knew who he was or what he looked like.

Sabo was still acting like an overprotective mother hen but Luffy was slowly coming back together. Bit by bit he was regaining his cheerful attitude and love for life.

It was a shame Law had to be the one to break everything down to him after all this time.

Law had had his share with the dark, criminal underworld. His foster father's older brother ran a large drug ring and - as he and Corazón had lived with him for the first three years Law had spent with Corazón - he knew what a man with someone's blood on their hands looked like.

So when Law had seen Sabo at Ace's burial ceremony, he knew something was horribly wrong.  
He didn't know how to explain it, he just _knew_.

Luffy was a mess, clutching his infamous straw hat for strength and support, eyes red and puffy from all the crying and not catching any sleep. He couldn't get anything out of his mouth when it was his turn to say his farewells to his brother – he broke down and hugged Ace's coffin, demanding him to come back.

Sabo was oddly calm and collected. He spoke coolly and offered a support to Luffy when he needed it, and when his little brother broke down upon Ace's coffin, Law was sure he'd heard him click his tongue under his breath. Sabo gently pried Luffy off and walked him away, all of their friends kept their heads down honoring Ace's memory and giving the two some privacy.

Law hadn't seen Luffy after that.  
Sabo had taken him home, then told everyone that Luffy had collapsed from the exhaustion. Law kept an eye on Sabo the whole night and to his surprise, the man never showed any emotion towards the man that was lowered in the ground and then buried six feet under.

" _He's staying strong for Luffy."_

" _Sabo has always been the responsible one of the three."_

" _Yes, he must be feeling awful on the inside."_

" _Poor Luffy and Sabo, I hope they can pull through this."_

" _Ace had always had a bit temper in him. He always put Luffy's safety first."_

" _Do you think Luffy blames himself for Ace's death?"_

" _Oh dear Lord! Poor boy!"_

Law had heard the people murmur and gossip afterwards.  
He wasn't that surprised. At all to be exact.

Friends and acquaintances swarmed around Sabo, leaving their condolences and telling him they were here if he or Luffy ever needed them. Sabo smiled and thanked them, promising to take their kind words to Luffy.

After the people began to leave, Law was left alone with Sabo by Ace's grave. It was filled with different kinds of colorful flowers, candles and cards. (Later, Luffy would bring Ace's old cowboy hat and sat it on top of the gravestone. How he managed to make it stay up there even during the biggest storm and wind, Law was not sure but to this day it still sat on top of the stone.)

No words were spoken between them and the silence was unnerving. Sabo's whole being was making him feel nervous and on the edge. So he excused himself and left. Sabo had said nothing, just stood by the grave, staring at the stone almost as if he was expecting the man who was just buried come back to life and attack him.

 _And was that a smirk on his face?_

When Law next saw Luffy, he was a shadow of his old self.  
He was quiet and stayed back whenever he met his friends.

No one pushed him to act like his old self, they gave him time to mourn and collect himself.

During that time, Law was starting to suspect Sabo more and more. This was the time when the rumors had reached Luffy's ears. He looked guilty, he felt guilty and oh if it wasn't the worst thing to witness.

Law and Luffy had become friends by accident.  
But he wouldn't say it wasn't the luckiest accident that had ever happened to him.

They rarely hang out or talked, but unlike with anyone else, Law felt at ease by Luffy's side. He'd just relax and take a breather from all the chaos and drama that was going on around the school and at home.

Luffy had given him a safe haven.  
And somehow Law felt like he was indebted to him.

So when he saw the signs that warned him about Sabo being a possible danger to Luffy, he decided to act. And what could had been a better way to act than confront Luffy and tell him what he thought of Sabo?

If only had he known it was the worst idea ever and possibly cost him their friendship.

* * *

"Hey, Luffy-ya?"

"Hm?" Luffy's eyes were on his phone but slowed his fingers so he'd give Law his attention. No doubt he was texting Sabo that he was on his way home. His older brother had demanded that Luffy would inform him of his whereabouts every other hour and when he was coming home from school.

"I need to show you something."

"What? Like, like right now?" Luffy looked up from his phone. Uncertainty was showing from his eyes and he bit his lower lip anxiously. Sabo had strictly told him to come home from school, and to not wander off anywhere without him or Zoro by his side. But Law was his friend too, right? Could he break the rule just this once? He hadn't had the opportunity to hang out with Law for a long time.

"Yes, right now. And I would prefer if you didn't tell Sabo-ya where we are going."

"B-but,-"

"Please Luffy-ya, this is really important."

"…"

Luffy was clearly uncomfortable.  
He didn't know what to do. If he was still as he was before Ace had died, he'd have come with him before Law had even finished his sentence (undoubtedly grabbed his hand and led them to the wrong direction, then turned to Law and asked where they were going).  
But this Luffy had been living under Sabo's hand too long and couldn't think for himself anymore. He was scared of the outside world, angry but scared.

He was scared of Marshall D. Teach, the murderer of his precious older brother, the man who was still after him.

"I promise this will take only a while. If Sabo-ya asks who held you back, tell him I needed your help to find my hat", Law took off his white and black hat, and threw it over his shoulder. It landed somewhere in the snowy school yard. Luffy peered behind Law but couldn't see the hat from all the snow. This caused him to smile, and by Gods it was probably the first time Law had seen him smile and laugh like that since Ace's death.

"What are we waiting for?! Let's go find your hat!" Luffy grabbed Law's hand and began to drag him towards the town. ("By the way - where are we going?")

 **xxxx**

Law brought Luffy to the cemetery.  
Not the most perfect place for anything, but what he had to show to him was here.

Luffy didn't like it there.  
He kept glancing around the old area and playing with his mittens. The wind was blowing hard and it was cold, Law wished he hadn't thrown his hat away. Now he'd really have to go look for it.

"W-what did you want to show me, Torao?"

"Wait a minute, I know it's here somewhere…"

"What is?" Luffy's phone buzzed. Law knew it was Sabo.

 _[Luffy, where are you? Did you get detention?]_

"He's asking me if I got detention", Luffy spoke softly with a smile. It had used to be joke among them that Luffy was going to beat Ace's detention record.  
Law said nothing as he looked through the gravestones, searching for one in particular.

The phone buzzed again.

 _[I'm getting worried. You were supposed to be home 20 minutes ago. Are you alright?]_

Luffy bit his lip.

Law had told him to ignore all texts and calls he received from his brother was getting worried and it was his fault. What if Sabo came looking for him and got into an accident thanks to all this snow? Their car was old and didn't run well in cold.

His phone buzzed again, and he heard Law call his name. Luffy put the phone in his pocket without looking at the text on the screen and jogged to Law.

 _[You didn't get probed into something stupid again, did you?]_

"What did you find?"

"This." Law pointed the gravestone, more importantly, the name on it. Luffy felt his breath get caught in his throat.

" _ **No…**_ "

 _[Monkey D. Luffy! You come home this instant!]_

"This is what I've been trying to tell you, Luffy-ya", Law started slowly. Luffy stared the name eyes wide and jaw hung open. Th-this had to be some sort of a sick joke, right?!

"I'm sorry it took me this long to find out the truth, but I needed to find something solid so I'd get you to believe me."

 _[Luffy please! I'm worried! Please come home.]_

On the gravestone read,

Marshall D. Teach,  
3rd of August 1944 – 5th of September 1978,  
Died from a sickness, Will now continue his golden journey somewhere else.

Luffy felt numb.

"You see, there was no Marshall D Teach. He died before Ace-ya did. He died before Ace-ya was even born!" Law exclaimed with heat.

The wind was picking up and snow was slowly coming down. Luffy felt cold and heavy, like the earth had swallowed him. It was suddenly hard for him to breath.

"W-what are you trying to tell me?" Luffy spoke quietly, he was scared.

"Sabo has been lying to you all this time, Luffy-ya. He came up with the rumor about Marshall D. Teach. This grave is at the other side of the cemetery and given by the poor condition of this man's grave, no one has visited him for years. He's a forgotten man, a person no one remembers about or cares if he lived or not."

Cold dread filled Luffy. He was angry- no, furious. If Law was going to say what he thought he was…

"So I believe, it was Sabo who actually murdered Ace—"

Luffy had swung his left arm and the fist had connected with Law's left eye. Law flew a few feet and fell on his back in the snow. He groaned and held his face.  
Luffy panted and his fist shook.

"You…" he growled with heat. "You take that back, Law!"

Law swallowed when he heard the other use his actual name instead of one of his ridiculous nicknames. "No, you don't see, Luffy-ya! I'm only thinking of what's best for you!"

"You're blaming my big brother for Ace's murder!" Luffy pointed at Law accusingly. " You are blaming my big brother of murdering my other big brother!"

"I'm only thinking of your life!"

"What proof do you have, huh?! Other than a name in a stone!?"

"Sabo started the rumors of this man 'murdering' Ace! He's made you dependent on him! Look back – were you dependent on them this much while Ace was still alive? Were you updating your every move to one of them?"

"Sabo, he- he's worried about me! He doesn't want anything to happen to me!"

"He's controlling you Luffy-ya! You can't be this blind!"

Another buzz caught Law's attention.

"Even now he's been trying to contact you – you're only 35 minutes late! Would Ace text you twenty times in 40 minutes if you were late coming home from school?!"

 _[I'm coming to pick you up. I don't like this. Don't move.]_

 _[WHERE ARE YOU?! YOU'RE NOT AT THE SCHOOL OR AT THE ARCADE!]_

 _[I called Usopp and he said he hasn't seen you. Where are you?!]_

 _[Zoro said you stayed back with someone. Who?!]_

 _[Luffy, for the love of god! WHERE ARE YOU?!]_

Luffy read a few of the newest messages he had received from Sabo. The same cold numbness returned and he found himself wanting to cry.

Law seemed sympathetic.

Luffy shook his head, determination back in his eyes. He scowled at Law. How dare he suggest something preposterous like this?!

"I thought we were friends Law! But instead you- you blame Sabo for Ace's death-"

Law winced. It did sound harsh coming from Luffy's mouth. He had failed.

Luffy opened his mouth but nothing came out. He wasn't the type of guy to decline friendship, even if Law had hurt him. So instead he turned around and stormed away, leaving Law alone in the graveyard.

 **xxxxxx**

There was no way Sabo could have done something like that! They were brothers!

They protected each other!

They loved and cared for each other!

They did have their fights and arguments but they always apologized to each other.

Sure, Sabo was acting a bit extreme nowadays but it was understandable! Their brother had died in the hands of some mad man who was still out there, trying to get his hands on Luffy! Sabo was _supposed_ to be worried and protective of him!

But what about that grave Law had showed him?

Luffy stopped under a street light.

The name D. was fairly uncommon and it had been a lucky coincidence Ace and Luffy both shared it.

Could it really be that someone had come up with the name so they could blame someone who wouldn't be able to even defend himself? Because they were dead and nobody would suspect a dead person?

He had heard the name from Sabo. He never told Luffy where he heard the name from.

Could… Could Law be right with his suspicion towards Sabo?

Feeling like his head would explode, Luffy shook his head and went onwards. He had to get home before Sabo tore the roof off with his search for him.

He fished out his phone and saw new messages and missed calls, all from Sabo.

Luffy opened the screen lock and began to type as fast as he could from his cold fingers.

[Sorry for ignoring your messages. My battery died because of the cold and I had to go to a small store to warm up and re-charge. The store was awesome and I completely lost track of time! I'm coming home now!]

Luffy hit sent.

Feeling a bit guilty for lying to Sabo but he had made a promise to Law. Even when his friend had accused for his brother for a cold blooded murder, Luffy refused to put Law in trouble. He had enough trouble with his family already.

Besides, Law was wrong, wasn't he?

Sabo loved him, he had loved Ace.

A buzz came from his phone and Luffy looked down to see a new message from Sabo.

 _[I am going to have a few words with you young man! Now come home immediately! I've made steak.]_

Feeling his mood lifted by the mention of food, Luffy jogged home, the dark thoughts and Law's warning quickly forgotten.

* * *

Sabo wasn't that mad when he got home. Just worried, Luffy assured himself.

After an hour of rants and telling Luffy not to worry him like this, Sabo calmed down and gave him a smile. He then hugged Luffy.

Luffy hugged back, feeling bad for doubting his brother's love.

And yet, Luffy couldn't help the odd feeling he had at the back of his head. Like something wasn't right and he should be careful.

They ate in a comfortable silence, just like back in the old days. Sabo would ask him how his day went, he would answer and ask about Sabo's day. This would go back and forth until Ace would fall asleep on his food and the two of them would laugh at him.

Luffy smiled. Then he would eat everything edible on Ace's plate and play innocent when he'd wake up - though Luffy knew Ace knew it was him but played along.

"Luffy, what's wrong?"

Luffy blinked and saw he had been staring at the empty chair that seemed to be mocking him. There was supposed to be a person sitting in that chair.

"You just stopped eating. Are you alright?" Sabo put down his utensils and glanced over to where Luffy was staring. He sighed.

"I know you miss him but you need to let go. His memory will only slow you down and keep bothering you."

"But I don't want to forget about him! He was my precious brother - like you are, Sabo! I couldn't possibly forget about you either and move on!" Luffy started with a little heat.

Something flashed in Sabo's eyes and he slowly pushed his plate away. He took the napkin from his lap and put it on the table next to the plate. Luffy eyed his brother carefully. He felt nervous for some reason.

"Luffy", Sabo started slowly. A smile spread on his lips and the moment Luffy saw it, Law's warnings rang through his head. He swallowed and found himself very nervous under his own brother's smile.

"When I'm telling you to forget about Ace, I'm only thinking what's best for you."

"B-but, forgetting about Ace?! Isn't that too harsh?" Luffy asked carefully. He had lost his appetite. Glancing the empty seat, Luffy wished Ace would appear from his room, half asleep and asking for food. Like he always did.

"I couldn't possibly..."

"Luffy", Sabo's voice was stern and serious. Luffy flinched at the voice. Never before had Sabo used that kind of tone with him. But he would stand his ground!

"You're asking for impossible things Sabo!" Luffy stood up quickly, causing the chair to fall back. Sabo's eyes followed him.

"I won't do it! I love Ace- I love you both! And even if he's dead and doesn't exist in this world anymore, I will cherish his memory till the day I die!"

Luffy turned away and began to march towards his room.

Sabo was crazy if he thought he would completely forget about his brother! No way he could do that!

He almost fell when Sabo grabbed him by his hood. Luffy spun around to yell at Sabo but shut his mouth when he saw the enraged look on his brother's face.

His face was white with anger, his blue eyes were ice cold as they glared down at Luffy. His jaw was clenched tight and Luffy swore he heard him growl. His brother sneered, revealing his teeth.

" **Forget about** **him**."

Luffy's whole body shook.

" _Sabo started the rumors of this man 'murdering' Ace! He's made you dependent on him!"_

" _Sabo has been lying to you all this time, Luffy-ya. He came up with the rumor about Marshall D. Teach."_

" _-there was no Marshall D Teach. He died before Ace-ya did. He died before Ace-ya was even born!"_

" _-I believe, it was Sabo who actually murdered Ace—"_

" _He's controlling you Luffy-ya!"_

Law's voice rang through his head, voice growing louder every sentence. The whole situation made Luffy anxious as it was and to his shock, he found himself scared of Sabo. His own brother!

"L-let go", cursing his voice for stuttering, Luffy tried to get Sabo to release his shirt. Instead, his brother pulled him back and grabbed him by his bicep. Luffy let out a surprised cry. It hurt!

"Sabo!"

Panic was finally settling in and Luffy began to push the other away and at the same time pull his arm back. Sabo's hold was firm.

"You're not going anywhere."

"Sabo- Gh- you're acting weird! Let me go! Y-", Sabo had tightened his hold, Luffy let out a small whimper. "You're _hurting_ me!"

"I wouldn't have to if you did as I told you to", Sabo said too calmly. He began to march towards their bedrooms, dragging Luffy with him. Luffy felt like his whole arm was going to be ripped off. Sabo's hold around his bicep was undoubtedly going to leave a mark. He yelped when Sabo suddenly pulled him forwards and threw in a room. When he got his balance back, he recognized the room as Ace's.

The room was still like Ace had left it before he had passed away. The only difference was the dust piling on the different surfaces.

Luffy heard noises from his left and saw Sabo going through Ace's wardrobe. To his horrid surprise, Sabo was emptying the closet from all of Ace's things and threw them on the floor in one big pile.

"What are you doing?!"

"Getting rid of the trash."

"Trash- _THESE ARE ACE'S BELONGINGS YOU CAN'T THROW THEM AWAY!_ " Luffy went to save Ace's favourite backpack he saw Sabo throw on top of everything.

"Yes I can Luffy!"

Tears had started to gather in Luffy's eyes. He held the bag close to his chest as he watched Sabo finish with the wardrobe and start with the bookshelf. Not the books! There weren't many, only a few, but Luffy remembered Ace rereading them and every time he had the same excited look on his face.

"Not the books Sabo!"

"Especially the books," Sabo growled and threw the books to the ground in disgust.

Again, Luffy dove to save the few books and began to shove them in the bag. Sabo saw him doing that and went to rip the bag from Luffy's hands.

The younger brother let out surprised cry when Sabo shoved him away and snatched the bag from his hands. Luffy fell to his back but was back on his feet in no time and threw himself on Sabo. The other had made the mistake to turn his back on him.

"Give them back Sabo! They're Ace's!"

"Ace is _DEAD_ Luffy! These don't belong to him anymore!"

Sabo kept the bag out of Luffy's reach as he tried to climb over his shoulders and get it in his hands. Sabo nearly lost his balance but when Luffy suddenly covered his eyes and bit him on the shoulder, he let go of the bag and yelled. He tried to claw Luffy's head and the hand over his eyes, but then he was kicked from behind.

He landed in the pile of clothes and while being dazed, Luffy scrambled off of Sabo, grabbing the bag and making a mad dash to the exit while Sabo was still lying on the floor dazedly. He slammed the door shut and put a chair next to the door under the door knob.

Luffy almost flew through the hallway and kitchen to the front door and pulled on his shoes and jacket. Just when he finished the zipper and had pulled on his beanie, he heard Sabo screaming his name, fighting against the barrier that kept the door shut.

The chair wouldn't last long, Luffy knew that, so he ran out of the front door with Ace's old backpack thrown over his shoulder.

He had nowhere to go but he had to get away from Sabo as soon as possible. There was no reasoning with him.

Luffy had never seen Sabo like this!

Usually it was Ace who let out steam by physically attacking them but it never led to anyone getting hurt!

Sabo was… had he gone crazy?!

Sabo had always been the calm and collected one - the smart one! The one with the most patience!

He had never seen his older brother like this. And frankly, he never wanted to see it again.

The weather was horrible.

It was slowing him down and he was sure his frostbites had frostbites. But he couldn't stop. Not with Sabo after him, which he was certain he was.

Luffy shivered and shook his head. He couldn't see forward well. Street lights were always dim in a storm like this.

He was just running aimlessly, his only intention was to get away. But where? He knew he wouldn't be able to continue to run forever, especially in weather like this.

All the roads were blocked by the snow. He was a bit disorientated and couldn't see ahead.

At least the wind and snow were hiding his tracks.

He had to find shelter.

Somewhere Sabo wouldn't find him. Somewhere he wouldn't even think about looking.

He couldn't go to anyone of his friends because they'd be the first thing Sabo would think of.

Shanks was out of town on a business trip.

Rayleigh was visiting an old friend in another town.

He didn't want to cause Law any more trouble and he wasn't exactly sure if he'd see him right now. Not after punching him in the face.

Makino was definitely out of the question.

Then an idea hit him.

Looking around, he recognized the area as town square continued to run forward, then turned right into the first alleyway he saw.

He knew a person he could turn to!

* * *

Sabo was furious.

How dare Luffy act like this, _after all the things he'd done for him?!_

He had a suspicion something was wrong when Luffy came home late that night. He had seen it in his eyes, the way he refused to look straight into his.

Something was going on.

So he had acted like a proper big brother should - told him to forget the matter bothering his mind.

But apparently they hadn't been on the same page.

Luffy's reaction wasn't a shock for him, no. Those two had always been too close to each other, Luffy and Ace.

But to raise his voice and even show that kind of attitude?

How _dare_ he?!

Sabo was only thinking what was best for him!  
So to help him to forget - he'd get rid of everything reminding him of the person once living with them.  
It was risky, he knew that, but that Luffy had actually attacked him and bitten him?!

How _**dare**_ he?!

The area where Luffy had bitten him hurt like a bitch and while he was down, trying to collect himself, he heard Luffy run from the room and close the door hurriedly.

After a short while, footsteps rushed through the house and Sabo was up on his feet and at the door.

He had to catch him before it was too late!

To his surprise, he couldn't open the door. Luffy had actually thought ahead and barricaded the door from the outside.

Sabo let out a scream of rage, as he fought against the door.

He stopped when he thought he heard another door slam. He was at the window in a second and saw Luffy running away with the bag.

Enraged even further, Sabo grabbed the chair in the room and threw it at the window. The glass shattered and Sabo was outside in a flash.

He circled to the back and opened the door leading in the garage. The back door in the house was unlocked as always.

Sabo was steaming and saw red.

Luffy had thrown his acts of love and care back at his face! He had been such a wonderful big brother!

He had been a better brother Ace ever was!

Luffy was supposed to stay as his darling little brother till the end and never do anything against him.

Grabbing his phone and keys, Sabo was out of the house. He rushed to the driveway while pulling on his jacket and scarf. He frowned.

The snow was quickly covering Luffy's tracks so he had to act fast.  
He couldn't be far on this weather.

He knew for sure Luffy wouldn't be hiding at one of his friends. He cared about them too much.  
Those stupid fuckers didn't even deserve a place on Luffy's heart. He did! Luffy's heart belonged to him!

With an idea, Sabo ran back through the house and into the garage to pick something up.

His eyes held a strange gleam when he would what he was looking for.

He put the small thing in his jacket's pocket and ran back to the front, kicking the door shut behind him.

The tracks were completely covered by now but Sabo ran towards the town with a mad grin on his face.

"Oh Luffy… You've been a very naughty little brother. Older brother needs to teach you a lesson…"

* * *

His breath was coming out as short puffs by the time Luffy found the place he was looking for.

He looked around frantically and ran in the apartment building, clutching Ace's bag all the time.

He needed to reach the 6th floor and when he got in the elevator, he allowed himself to breath.

It was dark outside and he wasn't sure what the time was. He took his phone from his pocket and saw it read half past eight. He was surprised how early it was.

Finally at the floor he needed to be, Luffy exited the elevator and ran to the door at the far right.

"Please be home, please be home!"

Luffy rang the doorbell and knocked the door. He did this a couple of more times.

He had been here many times, to pick up Ace. He knew he was always welcome here.

Finally, the door opened and Marco poked his head out, surprised to see Luffy.

"Luffy? What are you doing here, yoi? And at this hour?"

"No time to explain!" Luffy said hurriedly. He showed the bag to Marco, who caught it by surprised. He recognized the bag immediately.

"This is Ace's-"

"Yes! I need you to keep it safe for me!" Luffy kept glancing at the elevator. It had been called down. Breath caught in his throat he shook. _Not yet!_

Marco seemed confused. "Luffy, what's wrong? You're out of breath, yoi, and you seem like you've seen a ghost."

"Marco please! Hide the bag from Sabo!"

This caught Marco by surprise. "From _Sabo_?"

Luffy nodded his head frantically. He glanced at the lift. It had reached the street level.

"There's something wrong with him and he wants to get rid of everything Ace owns! I managed to save these. Please! He's after me- Hide them for me- from him!"

He turned to see the lift coming up. It was on the third level. " I need to leave!" Luffy sprang and went for the stairs. He skipped them down five at a time.

Marco held the bag in confusion.

He frowned and closed the door. The bag was all wet from the snow so he went to the bathroom to let it dry out. When he emptied the watermelon colored bag, he saw books. Ace's books to be exact. Among them were some random things Ace had forgotten in it.

Marco could feel himself become emotional with all of the stuff laid down in front of him.

Ace's death had been a surprise to all of them, the biggest one to Luffy.

Marco left the bag on a heater to dry out and took what it had contained to the living room. He placed them on his coffee table with care.

Sabo wanted to get rid of everything Ace owned?

He heard someone knock his door again. Blinking, Marco went to the door but stopped by the bathroom door. Luffy had ran from Sabo?

The boy had been exhausted and panicky, which meant something was not right.

Another set of knocks came and Marco could feel himself becoming restless.

He had to cover for Luffy. He wasn't sure what was going on but it couldn't be good.

He quietly opened the door to bathroom and flushed the toilet. Opening the faucet he washed his hands and took a towel in his hands.

Drying his hands, he went to open the door. Behind the door stood the blond one of the three brothers.

"Sabo?"

A pleasant smile spread on his lips. "Good evening, Marco."

"How are you, yoi? Haven't seen you for ages! How's Luffy holding up?"

"Like you wouldn't know."

Marco raised his eyebrows at that. "What do you mean, yoi?"

"Luffy was here, wasn't he?"

Marco didn't like the tone Sabo used on him. So accusing, it made him suspicious.

"I don't know what you mean, yoi."

Sabo pointed the floor. Watery footprints came from the elevator, stopped to his door and then went to the stairs. Melted snow from Luffy's shoes.

"I don't know man", Marco scratched his head and yawned. "I fell asleep shortly after I got home from work and woke up to take a piss just now." He shrugged.

Sabo frowned and stared him.

"If he was here I must have missed him because I was dead to this world until a few minutes ago. So", Marco held out his hands, shrugging.

"I heard him talk to someone", Sabo shot back. Marco frowned. Was this guy challenging him?

"Probably had a phone call", Marco shrugged and tried to keep the neutral bored look on his face. It was hard because on the inside he was a nervous, worried mess. He wanted to call Luffy and hide him from this beast in Sabo's clothes. "What's going on, yoi? What's this all about?"

The pleasant smile slid on the man's lips once again. Marco was starting to hate it.

"Oh nothing, just a disagreement. He ran away from home after we had a small fight."

' _Small, my ass. That boy was a wreck!'_

"Oh I see. It's not good for him to be running outside in a weather like this. I'll give you a call if I happen to see him, yoi."

Marco was about to close the door but Sabo put his foot between the door and wall. He was still smiling.

"Sabo?"

"I hope you're not _lying_ to me, Marco. It would be a shame if you were…"

Marco felt a shiver shake his whole body. What was that gleam in Sabo's eyes?!

Alarm bells began to rang at the back of his head, Marco _had_ to close the door **now**.

Sabo pulled his foot away and excused himself. He went back to the elevator.

Too weirded out to say or do anything, Marco continued to stare where Sabo had been until he heard the elevator doors close.

He shut the door and fished out his cell phone. He quickly searched Luffy from his contacts and decided it would be the best if he texted him instead.

 _[Luffy what's going on? Sabo was here a second ago, looking for you. What's happened to him? Are you okay?!]_

He hit send and anxiously waited for the boy to answer him. He phased to the kitchen and looked out from the window. The yard below him was white and more snow was coming down harder.

He saw a small blue back further in the driveway. The blond man was walking and as if sensing eyes on him, Sabo turned around, eyes set on the window he knew was Marco's.

Marco quickly pulled away from the window and pulled out his phone.

Still nothing.

"This is no good", he muttered and opened the screen lock, going through the contacts again. He found the one he was looking for and hit call.

After a while, a tired voice answered him.

" _We just saw each other, dude. As much I'd love to see you more, I need space-"_

"Thatch, I think Luffy's in trouble, yoi." Marco put on his shoes and reached for his jacket.

This got Thatch's attention. _"Talk to me."_

"Sabo's acting weird. We need to find Luffy before he does. How fast are you ready?" He pulled the jacket on and threw the scarf around his neck.

" _Give me five minutes. Do you know where he went?"_ Marco could hear shuffling, Thatch was pulling on his clothes.

"No but I know a few places we'd find him. See you at the cemetery, let's start there."

" _Okay. See you there!"_

Marco pocketed his phone and pulled the zipper up. He was out in a flash, running down the stairs.

* * *

Luffy was panting hard.

He had managed to hide in the cemetery, half hoping to find someone, but no one was there at such hour.

Biting his lip in frustration, Luffy wrapped his arms around himself. It was so cold!

The snow had finally stopped falling but the wind was so raw and blew hard.

Looking around, he noted himself being near Marshall D. Teach's grave, which meant Ace's was further away.

He felt bad for the man. If things were as Law had said, his brother had framed a dead, innocent man for the murder of his brother. There were probably no information of the man in the archives so no one knew where to look so no one even considered him being dead in the first place.

When this all was over, Luffy would bring a candle once in a while to the grave.

He continued his way through the cemetery and after turning to the wrong path two times, he found Ace.

His eyes grew sad and he took in a shuddering breath.

"Oh Ace", Luffy said quietly and stood in front of the stone. He wiped the snow off the stone and the cowboy hat. He crouched down and did the same thing to the many flowers in front of the stone. Even Ace's name was covered in snow.

"How did everything come to this?" he spoke quietly to himself.

"What did we- what did _I_ do wrong?"

He wasn't lying if he said he wished Ace to answer him. How he would wake up from this horrible nightmare and both of his brothers would be there.

"I miss you Ace", Luffy spoke gently. He sniffed from the cold. "I miss both of you."

"And I miss you." Came from right next to his ear.

Luffy froze, eyes widening and mouth slightly open. He swallowed air and slowly turned around to see Sabo crouching right behind him. That damned smile on his face.

"Sabo…"

Sabo sighed and shook his head with a small smirk on his lips.

"You really are predictable, Luffy. My sweet, little brother."

Luffy jumped on his feet and spun behind the gravestone. Sabo stood up slowly and put his hand in his jacket's pockets.

A silence settled between them. Luffy was too scared to say anything and Sabo simply enjoyed the frightened look Luffy's face.

"I see you left the bag somewhere", Sabo finally said. He tilted his head slightly to the side and studied Luffy.

"..." feeling naked under Sabo's eyes, Luffy switched his weight from foot to foot. Everything was telling him to run but he had nowhere to run from here. Snow reached his knees where he now stood and the only way to escape was to get past Sabo.

"And I wonder where", Sabo took a step to the right - Luffy took a step to the right as well. He wanted to keep the distance between them. Sabo made a disappointed face.

"Aw Luffy, you're breaking my heart! Come now, let's go home", he reached for his baby brother, who in turn took a couple of steps back in the snow. His eyes landed on his brother's feet and made his decision.

"I don't want to Sabo! You're acting really weird!"

"Ah, you have mistaken, Luffy!" Sabo held out his arms, keeping his brother's attention on his hands. Luffy eyed him suspiciously, ready to run.

"As I said before, I am only thinking what's best for you!" Sabo took a step back and started to phase in front of the stone.

"Thinking about Ace is not healthy for you. You can't keep thinking about the past, you need to move on", he told the other matter-of-factly. He had his hands behind his back and looked both up and down as he spoke. He could see Luffy's body relax from the corner of his eye.

"I know it's hard for you to get over his death, but my god Luffy - it has been two years. You need to let go and live on! That's what Ace'd want you to do!"

"Y-yeah, but…"

"Luffy, my darling little brother… Come home with me, you must be freezing."

Sabo held out his arms, waiting for Luffy to leap into his arms - like he usually would. The boy's body leaned forward and it seemed he was going to come to him, but Luffy pulled back.

"Sabo, tell me."

"Hmm?" Sabo's patience was running low but he still maintained the sweet smile.

"Who really killed Ace?"

Taken back by the question, Sabo lowered his arms and seemed puzzled. "What are you-"

"Answer me, Sabo", gaining confidence, Luffy stood against his brother. " _Who_ killed Ace?"

"Oh, but it was that Marshall D. Teach, Luffy. Can't you remem-"

" _Liar._ "

"Excuse me?"

"Liar! Marshall D. Teach is dead, he'd been dead for over thirty years Sabo!"

Sabo said nothing.  
He kept his eyes on Luffy and did nothing.

Luffy pointed him accusingly. " _You lied_ to me. You lied to everyone else too! You put the blame on a dead man's- why?!"

Remaining silent, Sabo watched Luffy. Just watched, and it was unnerving him.

"How could you possible benefit from blaming someone who's been dead all along?! Were you willingly messing up the whole investigation with your rumors? You've kept me in a short leash for the past two years because you said there was a cold blooded murderer after me! You know how scared I was?!"

Letting go of the anxiety and frustration he had kept to himself past these years finally erupted. He was so mad, tired, confused and exhausted. He wanted all of this to end. He needed to vent everything out and Sabo just happened to be the source of everything he had felt all this time.

Luffy kept going and paid no particular attention to Sabo.

"If the police isn't looking for the killer then who are they looking for?! Only the true murderer would benefit from the false accusations and-"

" _Sabo has been lying to you all this time -"_

" _So I believe, it was Sabo who actually_ murdered _Ace—"_

 **Only the murderer would benefit from the false accusations.**

Sabo stood right in front of him now.

It all made sense now.

"Sabo… you-" Luffy stuttered and tried to take a step back but Sabo had grabbed him by his wrist now and raised it up over Luffy's head, twisting it.  
Luffy let out a surprised cry.

It was the silence that scared Luffy more than anything, that and the serious yet calm look on Sabo's face.

"What did you _do_?!" he cried out, the weight of the situation finally clear to him.

 **Sabo had killed Ace.**

"You- You, you _murderer_!" he screamed, not caring if he got a hold on him or not.

Sabo had murdered Ace. He had killed their brother. _His brother had killed his other brother._

The whole situation was sick and twisted. Luffy tried to pull his arm away, screaming and hitting Sabo's chest. He needed to get away. He didn't want to be anywhere near this person anymore!

Luffy winced when Sabo's grip on his wrist tightened which also made him realize the possible danger he was in. He was dealing with his brother's murderer here.

Sabo was dangerous.

And he had him in his hold.

Who knew what he would do to him?!

Panic finally settled in Luffy and he began to trash in Sabo's hold. His brother didn't even flinch when Luffy's fist hit him in his torso.

Luffy raised his leg and kicked Sabo in the shins, causing Sabo to yell and let go of Luffy to double over and rub his leg.

Luffy used this momentum to jump over Ace's stone and ran as fast he could. His wrist ached but he paid it no mind. If he didn't get away from Sabo now, well, he didn't even want to think how much he would be hurting after that. He was capable of _murder_! Which meant, he was capable of hurting Luffy much worse than just this. He just didn't want to think how much worse.

He wasn't far when he heard Sabo yell his name. It didn't sound like his name though. More like a random scream of rage.  
The sound made his throat go dry and tears burned his eyes. He was _terrified_!

He ran back where he came from, fear tearing him on the inside when he heard Sabo right behind him. He pushed himself go faster, harder.

He cried out when he was yanked back forcefully by his jacket's hood. Arms caught him before he flew on his back but knowing who they belonged to, Luffy started to trash - he hit and screamed Sabo to release him. He called him names, threatened him - he didn't remember what he called him but one of those names or threats, made whatever had kept Sabo sane until now, break.

Sabo took something from his pocket and hit him with it.

For a moment, Luffy saw stars but then everything went black and he knew no more.

A thin line of blood ran down the side of his face.

Luffy's unconscious body fell to the snowy ground and Sabo stared it as he was catching his breath.

 **xxxxxx**

' _This wasn't supposed to happen..!'_

He swore, he never intended to act like that! But, but Luffy had called him names! He had threatened him! And he didn't want to lose him, not to _him_ anyway.

He had intended to act peacefully, talk some sense in Luffy.  
He never meant to attack him!

It was self defence, yes.

Luffy had attacked him, yes.

Except, _no_.

It wasn't Luffy.  
Oh no.

Sabo kneeled by Luffy's head and turned it to the side, revealing the angry looking wound on the side of his forehead. A little blood had fallen on the snow, coloring it red.

His sweet, sweet corrupted little brother. He was corrupted, yes. _Ace_ had corrupted him.

Sabo would have to show Luffy, just how much he cared for him.  
First he'd have to get rid of everything reminding Luffy of Ace.

Collecting his unconscious brother in his arms, Sabo made his way back to their house.

He decided to forget everything that had left Luffy's mouth a moment ago.

How he had called him a murderer, a lunatic, a horrible person, _a monster_ \- and then declared how he wished they had never even met Sabo. And how much better of a brother Ace was.

 **xxxxxx**

When Luffy woke up next, he was back in his room. A part of him wished this was all just a bad dream and everything was back to normal, but a headache and a throbbing wrist brought him back to reality. He let out a whine as to protest everything around him, moving his head hurt. His whole being hurt.

"Luffy, time to wake up", came a sweet voice from his right. Too sweet, Luffy felt sick. If things were as they were supposed to be, he'd beg for five more minutes and pull the covers over his head, but given how the situation was now, he wanted to throw his alarm clock at Sabo and jump out of the window.

"Luffy. I'm serious", with a more forceful voice, Sabo went to shook his little brother by his shoulder, but Luffy was faster. He sprung up and was at the end of the bed when Sabo's palm met the mattress. Blinking, Sabo looked up and saw Luffy staring at him like a deer caught in headlights, whole being shaking in fear.

Too fixed on keeping his attention on Sabo, Luffy failed to notice his window being boarded up, like every other window in the house.

His eyes darted to the door and then back to Sabo.  
He'd make it. He could make it to the door and to the front door.

He swallowed and stared at Sabo again, who was almost too calmly calculating for his next moves. They stared each other, then Luffy jumped.

He dashed to the door, but Sabo had seen that coming went after him.

Sabo was taller and bigger build than him, he was at the door before Luffy was, blocking the doorway. Luffy cried out and turned to the window. His eyes widened in disbelief when he saw the boards.

"No…" he whispered.

His escape routes were blocked.

He couldn't get out.

He was completely at Sabo's mercy.

Luffy didn't pay attention to Sabo, who came behind him and wrapped his arms around him. His big brother hugged him from behind, burying his face in Luffy's hair.  
Sabo was giddy - he was so _happy_!

Luffy was _finally_ his!

His sweet, _darling little brother_. Finally his and only his. The outside world didn't matter here. This was their own little world, their home. Nothing was going to come up between them anymore.

"I swear Luffy", he spoke quietly into Luffy's hair. Luffy, too shocked by the horrific reality paid no attention to what he was going to say.

"I swear, I will look after you and be a better big brother than that _Ace_ ever was", he spat, like the name was a bad taste in his mouth. Luffy trembled when he heard Sabo's tone change at the use of Ace's name. How Sabo's hands tightened around him. How his whole being became scarier than it already was.

"I swear, my _darling little brother_ ", Sabo kissed the top of his head.

"I will look after you. _Big brother will look after you._ "

Luffy closed his eyes and swallowed a sob that almost escaped him. He was trapped. He was trapped and scared. Sabo quietly hummed against his head and gently rocked him in his arms.

' _Ace please help me.'_

* * *

"Did you find anything!?"

"I found footprints!"

Marco ran to where Thatch was, in front of Ace's stone. Indeed, the snowy ground around the grave was full of footprints, big and small. They were here, Marco nodded to himself.  
The prints went around the stone, bigger ones following the smaller ones.

"They were alone, and Luffy was cornered."

Thatch glanced at Marco but said nothing. He didn't know how Marco was able to tell that from plain footprints on the snow but there were whole load of other things he didn't know about his friend so this was probably going to remain unanswered.

"These footprints", Marco pointed the smaller ones. "They belong to Luffy. See the area around the stone, yoi? Only smaller ones just appear behind it. He moved with one move behind it, meaning someone surprised him and he hid behind it as fast as he could. The bigger ones", Marco showed the larger footprints next to their feet. "As they move to this side, the smaller ones imitate them and move to that side - to keep the same distance between them, yoi."

"So", Thatch opened his mouth. "What you are saying is, Sabo and Luffy were here and they fought?"

"More or less", Marco looked around them. "No proper signs of physical fighting though, yoi."

"Well, here Luffy and Sabo are practically face to face?" Thatch stared the two sets of footprints by the gravestone.

"It appears something happened because Luffy stood on his tip toes, yoi."

"How can you-"

"His weight is on his tip toes, the front of his shoe digs deeper in the snow than his heel, yoi."

"Oh", Thatch muttered. The smaller prints seemed frantic and then they appeared in front of the stone again and ran to the other direction. The larger ones followed close. He felt upset and shaken. They more or less knew what had happened here and it upset him greatly. The snow reached their angles, and Luffy was smaller and shorter than them or Sabo, meant he was in a clear disadvantage. Snow made it hard for him to move, especially running must've been hard.

He looked up at Marco and saw the other looking towards the direction where the prints disappeared to. Nodding to his friend, they started to follow the prints to the other side of the cemetery.

When they reached the end where the two different prints got messy - clear signs of a battle, said Marco. Thatch looked around and tried to search for clues around the area while Marco investigated the battle scene itself.

"Thatch",

"Yeah bro?"

"I think Luffy fell, yoi. Also", there was a pause and Thatch looked up to see his friend frowning. "There's a little blood on the snow."

Thatch fell quiet and felt his throat go dry.  
He swallowed.

"The prints continue out of the gates, yoi. Meaning Sabo carried Luffy away." Marco stared the cemetery's gates. They had to follow the prints and see where they lead. They could still save Luffy!

"M-Marco…" came a shaky voice. Marco looked up.

Thatch had gone white as he stared an old gravestone. "What is it Thatch? We need to hurry after them, yoi!"

His friend pointed the stone and looked at him with shaken expression. Marco raised an eyebrow but went to stand next to him. "What?"

"L-look at the name on the stone!"

Name on the stone?  
"Thatch, this isn't the time to stare at other people's gravestones, we have far more imp...ortant… things to, do…"

Marco's eyes widened as he re-read the name for the fifth time.

' _Holy shit…!?'_

* * *

Every window in the house was boarded up and front door was locked. After a closer inspection, the doorknob was missing and the keyhole had melted into an ugly mess. He had ran to the garage door but that was as far as he had reached when he had heard Sabo call him.  
Shaking with fear, Luffy had attacked the doorknob and to his surprise the door opened. He sneaked inside and closed the door quietly behind him.

The garage was dark and he blindly made his way to where thought the backdoor was. He hoped the darkness would give him some cover and time to hide behind the car if he heard Sabo come. Also if he did come to look for him here, he'd hopefully be put off by the darkness and think Luffy wasn't here. Well, that was at least what he _hoped_ would happen.

The back door was right next to the automatic garage door but Luffy knew it wouldn't budge because all of the snow piled around the house.  
He felt the surface and found the doorknob but unfortunately it was locked as well.

He sighed.  
He was locked in.

He was locked in his own house.

Luffy hung his head. Might as well as return inside before Sabo would come looking for him - who knew what he'd do if he found Luffy here.  
He turned around and felt his way back to the door back to the kitchen. Feeling the selves on the wall, Luffy hand hit something cold and hard. He pulled his hand back but felt around the object lying on the self.

It was… a wrench?

Luffy swallowed. This… This could be his way out.  
Carefully, he picked the wrench up and hid it in his back pocket. He pulled his shirt down to hide the tool's head and shape. If he'd just find the hammer, he'd loosen the boards on his window and make his escape!

Sabo must've hidden it somewhere after he'd boarded up the windows. Luffy just wished he hadn't hidden it too well. It'd be either in Sabo or Ace's room.

Straightening up, Luffy went to the door and quietly opened it. He peeked and tried to spot Sabo but when he didn't he quickly sneaked through the door and as quietly as before, he shut it.  
He tried to hear his brother's movements in the house.

Luffy's eyes widened when he heard Sabo come down the hallway and straight to the kitchen. He sounded mad. "Luffy!"

The boy quickly went to the fridge and opened it. He was looking through the selves and grabbed something to eat when a hand appeared on top of the fridge's door and he felt Sabo standing right behind him.

Putting on the best innocent face he managed, with a piece of ham sticking out of his mouth, Luffy smiled. "H-heeyyy…"

"Sneaking off to steal some food, I see."

"Eh, I was, um, _hungry?_ "

Not good.  
Luffy was a terrible liar, even worse under pressure! Hopefully Sabo wouldn't notice the wrench.

To his surprise, the cold and hard look on his brother's face melted and he smiled. The smile made him feel safe and warm, like back in the old days.

"Well, you didn't eat properly earlier. How about I cook something for you?"

Part of him was excited by the mention of food, but other part didn't want to share the same air with Sabo right now. But he had to play cool and try to please Sabo so he wouldn't start to suspect him.

"Yeah! Meat! I want meat, lotsa meat!" he cheered and clapped his hands. Sabo chuckled and made way for his little brother to get out of the fridge so he'd get the cooking material ready.

"Fine, just give me 20 minutes and it'll be ready. You'd take a shower at the meanwhile, your face is dirty."

' _Gee, I wonder why',_ Luffy rolled his eyes. Sabo didn't see him.

He had twenty minutes to try and search for the hammer and start loosening the boards. He left Sabo in the kitchen and went down the hallway, first to Sabo's room.

The room was tidy and well kept, like he had suspected, but a strange smell hit his nose but he paid no attention to it. Probably some horrible cologne he had gotten from Koala as a joke. He would never understood fashion.  
He went through the wardrobe, book shelves, cabinets and even looked under Sabo's bed but only found dust bunnies and a couple of lost coins.

Next up, Ace's room.

It was a mess, just like Luffy had last seen it earlier today.  
He still felt bad for Ace's belongings, at least he managed to save something.

He looked around and his eyes widened when he saw the window. It too was boarded up but the glass was broken, and he couldn't see the chair by the desk anywhere.

He remembered barricading the door after he had escaped, which meant Sabo had used the chair to escape _through the window_?

Luffy shivered - Sabo had been really serious about catching him.

He looked around and felt like this would be a good place to hide the wrench. He went to the bed right next to the window and hit the tool under the pillows. Satisfied, Luffy turned and went for the door when something orange got his attention. They were hidden under Ace's desk, and on the table were a two packets of matchsticks.

There were three orange canisters under the table.

His throat went dry when he read the word 'gasoline' on the canisters' sides.

His legs felt weak.

Unable to carry his weight, Luffy fell on the bed and stared the canisters.

Sabo wasn't going to…?

He wasn't going to burn Ace's stuff away, was he?

But, what was with the _three_ canisters? Why did he need so many canisters to burn mostly textiles and wooden furniture..?

Why would he even need gasoline in the first place?!

' _I have to get out of here..!'_

Luffy stood up and turned towards the door.  
He looked up and froze.

Sabo was blocking the doorway.

He was staring right into his eyes and wore that same smile from earlier. Luffy took a quick step back and almost fell back to the bed. Side-stepping to the left, he backed away until his back hit the wall.

His brother took a slow step and entered the room.

"I see you found out about my little plan", Sabo spoke with a light tone. Luffy shook, both in fear and rage. "Too bad. It was supposed to be _a surprise_." He smiled.

Luffy took a calming breath, "Sabo. What's with the canisters?"

His brother went for the desk and pulled out one of the canisters. He set in on the table.

While Sabo's back was towards him, Luffy used the opportunity to quickly snatch the wrench and hide it in his trousers' back pocket.

"Sabo?" he didn't mean to sound scared, but hell if he could hide it any longer! Sabo was terrifying!

"You know what Luffy", Sabo addressed him for the first time. He smiled almost pleasantly and took slow, short steps towards Luffy.

"I have tried, to reason with you. I have been a terrific big brother, an amazing one! I have given you everything I've had to offer: time, patience and love. And what do I get for a reward?"

He stood now right in front of Luffy, whose face had paled to almost paper white. He was afraid to look anywhere else than Sabo's cold, piercing blue eyes.

Luffy gasped when all of a sudden he was held by the throat and slammed against the wall behind him. He quickly raised his hands to claw the hand around his neck.  
Sabo's hold tightened, and Luffy shut his eyes from the pain as he was slowly raised by his throat to be meet Sabo's eyes. Luffy groaned.

" _Absolutely_ _ **nothing!"**_

Luffy's vision started swimming and his lungs burning. Keeping his left hand around the arm holding him, he dropped his right one and grabbed the wrench from his pocket with shaking fingers. He gasped.

"What was so great about _Ace_ anyway, huh?! He didn't pay _any attention_ to you when we were young! It was always **me** who consoled you and held you when you had a nightmare! **I** made sure you ate properly and had enough warm clothes! Did _Ace_ participate to any of that? _No he did fucking not!_ "

Luffy groaned when the hand tightened again. His own hands shook from the lack of oxygen.

"And then after years of abuse and neglecting - you forgave him! _Ace_ stole you from me! After that you never came to me anymore! It was always _Ace_ , _Ace_ , _**ACE**_! _GOD DAMMIT LUFFY WHY CAN'T YOU SEE HE WAS USING YOUR KINDNESS TO EASE HIS GUILT!?_ He was NEVER a proper big brother like I was! He never really cared!"

Pain shook Luffy, along with the lack of oxygen. He was hearing what Sabo was telling him. But he already knew the truth.

"And then-", Sabo's mouth closed and opened but nothing came out. His grip loosened a bit, allowing Luffy to breath in greedily.

His usually well kept hair was a mess, allowing his long bangs to hide his eyes. He was breathing in and out steadily. His hand around Luffy shook, while other unclenched and clenched into a fist.

"Sabo, I-", Luffy started but was cut back when the grip tightened again and he had to stand on his toes to keep himself from dangling in the air. Sabo's eyes peeked through the bangs and threat hit Luffy with full force.

' _He's gone insane!'_

"Ace is dead, Luffy! I killed him and made sure he was dead - So we could be together! But noooo, yo-you wouldn't let go of him! I asked you, _begged_ you! So many times I told you to forget about him, so we'd continue our own lives - _together_! As we should!"

Luffy managed to shake his head weakly, "N-no…"

A twisted look came over Sabo's face and he sneered. Dark circles under his eyes highlighted the glint in his eyes and how he looked at Luffy.

"Since there is no other way to make you see things my way - I will show it to you up close."

Luffy's eyes widened and darted towards the gasoline canisters.

 _No way!_

"I will _burn everything_ to the ground. _Nothing_ is going to remind you of _Ace_ once I'm through with you. You will only think about me and only me!"

"N-no-gh-!"

"You have no say in this matter", Sabo tilted his head to the side and sneered, revealing his teeth. "As long as _Ace_ still has his touch on you, and everything in this house - I will have to remove everything that _Ace_ has _ever_ touched." He was grinning now, an ugly grin. He brought up his other hand and finally showed what he held in it.

Luffy's eyes widened even more as he was shown the lighter, right between his eyes. Sabo pushed down the ignitor and a flame sprung up, startling Luffy.

Leaning up close, Sabo's lips moved against Luffy's right ear. _"I will be starting with you,_ _ **my darling little brother**_ _."_

Gripping the wrench with all the remaining strength he had, Luffy swung his arm and hit Sabo hard on his face. His brother let out a cry and covered his face with his hands and screamed. The lighter fell to the floor and the flame died.

Luffy, finally out of Sabo's grip, coughed and sucked for air in his lungs.

He kicked the lighter under Ace's bed. He made a run for it.

He fell over when Sabo grabbed his ankle. Luffy held out his hands and caught himself before he hit his head. He twisted his upper body to look behind. He saw Sabo holding the left side of his face, with other hand around his ankle. Blood was coming through his fingers. He had hit him harder than he had meant to, or _not hard enough_?

" _Luffyyy…_ "

Luffy screamed and kicked. Sabo tried to grab both of his feet but a well angled kick hit him square in the face and he cried out. Luffy had broken his nose.

Using the momentum for his advantage, Luffy was up and out of the room.

His ears perked when he heard the familiar tune from the kitchen. His phone!

He dashed in the kitchen and snatched the phone over his ear.

" _Luffy? It's Marco, what-"_

"MARCOHELPMESAVEMEOHMYGOD!"

* * *

"LUFFY! Where are you?!"Marco tried not to sound panicked but was failing miserably. Thatch wasn't helping either.

" _AT HOME! COME HELP ME PLEASE I CAN'T GET OUT! IT'S SABO, HE-HE'S LOST IT! HE MURDERED ACE AND NOW HE WANTS TO HURT ME-"_

Luffy sounded on the edge and scared. Marco fastened his pace. After the cemetery they had made a short visit to the small port at the edge of the town, near the storage buildings where Ace was found. Luffy and Ace used to hang out there a lot and pick up the small gangs loitering around there. After Ace's death, Luffy would return there here and there to be alone.

"LUFFY CALM DOWN AND HIDE! We're almost at your house just wait a bit longer!" he tried to calm the other down. He knew he was doing a bad job when he heard Luffy's breath hitch at the sound of Sabo calling his name.

"Marco! I can see the house but- dude the windows! Look at the windows!" Thatch pointed the small house they were both too familiar with. Marco almost dropped the phone.

The windows were boarded shut from the inside and Ace's desk chair laid on the front yard, covered in snow. Looking closer, he could see Ace's window broken. Boards covered the broken glass .

"Oh my god", Marco swore what seemed to be the tenth time that night.

Thatch ran to the front door and banged it, calling Luffy's name.

Marco could hear Thatch's voice through his phone. "Luffy are you there yoi?!"

" _I can't get out!"_

"We can see that! Where's Sabo!?" anxiety and fear weighted Marco down as he thought of the person Luffy was locked inside with.

" _I-in Ace's room! He's going to- Oh my god Marco_ HE'S GOING TO BURN THE WHOLE HOUSE DOWN! _"_

"He _what…?_ " Marco whispered.

Thatch had heard Luffy through the door and slowly turned to face Marco. His face was white and he was sweating.

"We need to get him out of there!" Thatch exclaimed, anxious. "Luffy! What about the garage- the back door?!"

"Locked and boarded shut -like this one! I don't know where the key is! The car key is with Sabo!" Luffy yelled through the door.

" _Luffyyy…_ "

Both Marco and Thatch tensed when they heard a too familiar voice call for Luffy's name. Luffy's breath hitched and he let out a sob. He was close to crying.

 **xxxxxx**

Luffy turned around to see his brother stand in the living room with an axe in his hands. When had he passed him and gotten to the garage was beyond his knowledge - or had he had the axe hidden in somewhere?

"You have been a really, _really_ naughty little brother, Luffy…"

"Oh my god-"

"And I will have to punish you."

Sabon swung the axe before Luffy could even comprehend what was going on, but he managed to evade the attack. The hit landed the front door and he could hear Thatch's exclaim when the tip of the axe went through the wood.

Sabo kept his eyes on Luffy as he fought to remove his weapon from the door.

"Luffy _ **RUN!**_ "Thatch yelled through the door.

Luffy ran back to the hallway and straight in Ace's room. He slammed the door shut behind him and ran to the bookshelf.

He pushed it in front of the door, giving him some time to breath and look for an escape route.

" _Where are you?!"_

"I-in Ace's room! His window- it's broken, Sabo broke it!"

" _Try to remove the board from the inside! We'll try and help you from here! Just hang in tight kiddo, we'll get out of there, yoi!"_

Luffy saw a shadow move outside of the boarded window and he heard someone bang the boards. Thatch called for him and he rushed to the window.

He stopped short when something caught his eyes.

Or some missing things.

"Oh no…"

"Luffy?! You hear me!? You've got any tools with you in there?!"

"Thatch! The gasoline!" Luffy banged the boards. "Sabo took the canisters!"

The two outside the window were quiet for a second. Then he heard someone swear loudly and run somewhere.

"Luffy! Marco is going to call for backup! In the meanwhile let's focus on these boards, yeah?"

"Don't leave me Thatch!" he was begging, yes, but he was also scared to death for the man outside the room. The house was silent and he couldn't even dare to breathe. He didn't know where Sabo was!

"Luffy! _Focus._ Do have a tool or a knife with you?" Thatch tried to calm him down. Outside the window, he had picked up the chair and was readying himself to start breaking more of the window.

He looked around himself and cussed when the neighbourhood was dark and no one was up or even curious of the noises coming from outside. One would think the nosy old people would the first ones to yell at them to keep it down.

"I have a wrench with me!" Luffy spoke up after a short while.

"Good! Put it between the wall and the board to loosen them up! Once they're loose enough, grab the boards and pull! I will help you from here!"

Luffy eyed the boards.

There were six boards nailed horizontally over the window. If he could get rid of the top three, he could squeeze his way through!

He fought to get the tool between the board and wall, once he had managed to do that, he used his whole body weight to loosen the nails.

He was almost done with loosening the first one when a strange smell hit him.

Luffy turned his head to look towards the door and saw smoke coming through the door jams.

This caused him to pull on the board with more strength.

It broke from middle but Luffy pulled the right one until it broke and fell from the wall. He attacked the second one. He could see Thatch.

He was getting rid of the remaining window glass and loosening the boards from his side.

With two boards gone, Thatch flashed him a reassuring smile telling him that he was almost out.

Then Luffy heard it.

" _Luuffyyy_ …. I'm coming for you!"

He looked over his shoulder and saw the bookshelf shake. It laid on its side, blocking the door.

During his struggle with the boards he hadn't heard Sabo attack the door. He could see a small opening and through it he saw half of Sabo's face.

"Luffy don't stop!" Thatch exclaimed. He peeked over his shoulder for Marco, who was nowhere to be seen.

' _Where is he?!'_

Thatch's eyes widened when he saw the smoke coming from Sabo's room.

The bastard had set his own room on fire! The fire would spread fast and smoke was already coming from the room where Luffy was.

"Hurry up!"

Luffy grabbed the third board and pulled. Tears ran down his face as the door behind him was being attacked and slowly torn down.

He coughed, it was getting harder for him to breath. The room was getting hotter and hotter every minute and he couldn't see the ceiling properly because of all the smoke.

The third board was down but so was the door. Sabo kicked the bookshelf on its back and rushed towards the bed.

Flames and smoke attacked the room as soon as the door was down.

Luffy screamed when Sabo grabbed him by his leg and pulled.

"You are not going anyw _hERE WITHOUT ME LUFFY!_ "

"Stop Sabo **HELP ME!** "

"LUFFY!"

* * *

Marco stopped in front of the house to catch his breath. To his horror, the house was in flames.

Thatch was destroying the remainings of the window and the boards with the chair they had found outside and he could hear him yelling encouragements to Luffy.

Luffy was screaming and crying and soon he disappeared from the window with a desperate cry of help.

"LUFFY!" Thatch reached inside the house, half of his body through the window. He pulled out and dug his hands in the snow.

"Motherfucker burned me!" he cussed as he massaged his hands together under the snow.

"Thatch!"

"Marco!" Thatch turned to him, his face was wet with sweat and his hair-do was a mess. "What took you so long!? That Sabo motherfucker got Luffy!"

"I called Pops and he's sending people this way, yoi."

"Did you call the cops and and an ambulance and and-"

"They're on their way, yoi! Pops'll take care of it."

They heard a scream and looked around to see the whole neighbourhood awake and out of their houses. A few familiar faces fought their way through the crowds only to gasp and stop in front of the drive way.

"Marco!" Thatch called to his friend. He couldn't see Luffy anywhere. "If we don't hurry up-"

"You make sure Pops and the others get through the crowd, yoi."

"Yeah sure but how's that gonna help-"

Thatch turned to look at Marco just when he climbed through the window.

"MARCO?!"

 **xxx**

The room was full of smoke and flames. Marco started to cough and covered his mouth and nose so he wouldn't inhale too much of the smoke.

Ace's room was as good as gone. The walls were in fire and he couldn't see the ceiling.

"L-Luffy?!"

He carefully climbed over the bookshelf and got out of the room.

The hallway was darkened by all of the smoke but the spreading fire and flames licking the walls kept him away from burning himself. He tried to call for the boy again but inhaled too much smoke and started to cough.

A scream broke out of nowhere and Marco tried to look through his watering eyes if he could see where it came from.

The burning house and wood was loud in his ears as it was but he could make out the scream clearly.

Marco broke into a run. He'd have to act fast. Luffy had been inside enough to have inhaled a dangerous amount of smoke in his lungs.

He found them from the kitchen.

The table and the chairs were all broken and swept aside. The fire had already spread out here as well. From the corner of his eye, Marco could see an empty gasoline canister lying in the sink.

Of course.

Explains why the fire was spreading so fast.

Luffy was trapped between Sabo and the fridge. He was having trouble with breathing and his face was dirty.

Sabo held him by shoulders and appeared to be talking to him.

"-'ll be alright Luffy. I won't let them anywhere near you."

"Sabo stop..!" Luffy coughed and wheezed. "W-we need to get out of here!"

Sabo leaned in closer and removed his right arm away from Luffy and disappeared from Marco's view. He could see Luffy starting to shake and shake his head. The kid hadn't seen him yet. Even Sabo hadn't noticed him yet and he was usually the hardest to surprise.

Luffy was whimpering again and started to beg for Sabo to release him.

Only then did Marco notice how hurt Luffy was. Both of his hands had small cuts all over them and his jeans had small blood stains all over them.

Whatever Sabo had brought up for Luffy to see, freaked the boy out even more.

"Everything will burn down and we will rise from the ashes like a phoenix - and start a new life together, Luffy!"

Luffy shook his head and let out a horrified whimper. Marco looked around and saw a piece of a chair lying next to him. He went to pick it up and quietly stalked towards the two.

"I only have to leave my mark on you so that everyone will know whose little brother you are! They won't confuse you to Ace's brother anymore, oh no… You're _my_ darling, **my** little brother!"

"St-stop calling me that!" Luffy tried to fight back. He pushed Sabo away, but he wouldn't move. The grip on his other shoulder tightened, forcing him to tense and swallow the cry of pain. He wouldn't cry!

Something behind Sabo caught his attention and he felt hope lighten his chest. The earlier hopeless situation didn't seem as hopeless as before.

The death trap Sabo had made had a possible way out after all!

Sabo didn't seem to notice the way Luffy's eyes changed when Marco stalk behind him and raised the piece of wood over his head. But he did hear the way Luffy's breath hitched when Marco brought down the chair leg.

He turned around and put out his pocket knife to shelter himself from the attack.

Marco cussed under his breath and swung the leg again.

Sabo was forced to let go of Luffy as he backed up and shielded himself.

Luffy was thrown aside and his hit the wall with a gasp, that turned into a coughing fit. Everything spun in his eyes and he felt both light and heavy. It was getting harder to breath for him. He was disorientated and nothing felt real. He couldn't tell what was real and what was caused by the lack of oxygen.

His chest ached from the lack of fresh air and the smoke burning his insides.

Probably the lack of oxygen playing with his head again. He felt like he was embraced by someone warm and loving. Someone who wanted to love him and keep him safe.

Wait, except no.

His eyes shot wide open as he realized the pain came outside of his body. This wasn't safe and loving! It hurt! _It burned! He_ was _on fire!_

Sabo had thrown his to the side and failed to notice the kitchen was in flames. Fire was eating everything and nothing was spared. Not even them.

Luffy looked down and saw that his shirt had been caught on fire. He screamed when his brain finally registered the pain coming from all over his body.

He had burnt his hands when he caught himself from hitting the wall. The fire had soon caught on his hoodie and spread up towards his body, burning the shirt from its way.

Hurrying, Luffy ripped the shirt off and looked over at Marco, who had managed to corner Sabo.

His brother was yelling, coughing and laughing, while trying to fend Marco off. But the other was too mad to let him have his way.

He had to protect Luffy, his best friend's little brother. He'd sworn to protect them both, all three of them! He'd have never guessed he'd have to save them from each other!

He had heard Luffy scream and witnessed him being burned just when Sabo had swung the knife and almost sliced his right eye off.

Sabo was beyond gone.  
He couldn't be helped. Marco wasn't sure how things got like this, but it had to be some kind of twisted sibling rivalry. Sabo and Ace had always competed who was the better brother, but he had always thought that was normal in any family.

Luffy screamed his name and Marco reacted just in time to miss a kick.

Sabo swore and tried to move to Luffy but Marco cut him short. Marco saw an opening and swung the wooden leg as hard as he could, hitting Sabo's head.

Dazed, Sabo dropped the knife and fell against the kitchen counter.

Seeing this as their chance to escape, Marco hurried to Luffy and lead him back to where he remembered Ace's room to be. Smoke had filled the place and they couldn't see anything at all, nor could they breathe.

Luffy was slower than him so he grabbed his hand and lead them to the room.

The room was nothing but an inferno of flames and fire. Luffy whimpered when he saw it.

Above the roaring fire, Marco could hear Thatch screaming and yelling from the distance.

' _Where are the firemen?!'_ Marco thought to himself. Surely they'd have come to rescue them since they knew there were people inside?!

Or did they know this was a hopeless case and the building couldn't be saved at all and to rescue them was a suicide mission?

"M-Mar...co…"

He heard Luffy call his name weakly. The boy was at his end. They had to get out **now**.

Marco pulled Luffy inside the room, trying to shield the boy from the flames. He could see the window from all the fire and smoke.

"We're almost out Luffy!"

"Not so fast _Luffyy!_ "

Luffy froze and Marco quickly looked behind them to the doorway.

In the hallway of Hell stood Sabo. His eyes were blazing and his hair was almost black from all the smoke and ash in the air. His clothes were burned all over and his hands had burns that had to be at least second degree burns.

He was panting hard, not caring about the smoke at all.

"Sabo! We are all going to die here if we don't escape now, yoi!"

Why was he trying to reason with him? It was clear Sabo couldn't be reasoned with.

Sabo didn't answer. He came towards them unsteadily. He almost tripped and swung from side to side as he crossed the room. He was smiling, laughing.

"I don't care!" he declared. "All I want is Luffy and I to live happily together until the death does us apart!"

"Listen to yourself Sabo! If we don't escape now, both you and Luffy will die here! You love Luffy! You wouldn't want him to die here, not like this!"

Sabo burst out into laughter, startling Marco.

"Oh but I do! My love for Luffy is beyond this world and the only way I can show it to him is by marking him! And if I need to kill him to show him how much I care about him so be it!"

Just when Sabo tried to reach for Luffy, an explosion shook the whole house and the flames swallowed them all. A powerful force hit them all, sending all three on the floor.

 **xxxx**

Dazed, Marco lied on the floor. His ears rang and for a moment he didn't know where he was.

But then the fire and hot air brought him back. Past the ringing in his ears he could hear Sabo screaming in the distance.

Everything was engulfed by the black smoke and flames but somehow he could make out Luffy lying on his side on the floor. The boy was hugging himself and gasping for air.

The explosion had brought down the ceiling and they were in a tight space, but thank to any god that was looking out for them, they weren't trapped.

The window!

The path was still clear, safe for the blazing, hot inferno around them.

Marco pulled Luffy to himself and rose to his unsteady legs with Luffy held tight in his arms.

He made it to the window with very short and slow steps. The fire was licking his skin and eating his clothes. His pants had caught on fire and he bit his cheek to stop himself from screaming in pain. He did everything he could to shield Luffy from further damage. The boy in his arms gasped when the fire flicked his face

Luffy was still hugging himself, curled in a small ball in his arms. He couldn't see what he was shielding from the fire but he was in pain.

Marco could taste the air. He coughed and tried to see clearly through the tears and thick smoke.

The flames had eaten the last boards from the window, leaving them a way out. They were almost there!

With the last breath he had, he yelled: "THATCH!"

 **xxxxxx**

Thatch was at the window as soon as he heard his name being called.

He pushed the firemen aside and reached his arms through the window to receive Luffy. He pulled away and room for the firemen to help Marco out.

He ran away from the house and gently placed Luffy on the snow. He winced when he saw the state the boy was in.

He was burnt all over and had cuts here and there covering his body.

Luffy's eyes opened when he hit the snow and released his arms from around himself. Thatch's eyes widened and he gasped.

"A-Ah…" the boy's voice was raspy and strangled. He was shaking and paling under Thatch's eyes. But his _chest_..! Oh dear lord. Luffy tensed, and started screaming.

 _He was going into a shock!_

"HELP HIM!"

The paramedics were over them before Thatch could look up. They gently pushed him aside and attended to Luffy.

The firemen brought Marco to them but one of the paramedics told them to take him straight to the ambulance. Someone helped Thatch up and took him to the ambulance with Marco.

"He's inhaled too much smoke and has a small concussion!"

"His chest needs medical attention! Bring in the stretcher! We need to take him to the hospital and start the surgery!"

A woman yelled out orders to the paramedics and soon a stretcher was brought from another ambulance and Luffy was carefully lifted on it.

Marco received a bottle of water and a blanket was wrapped over his shoulders. Thatch had refused the blanket offered to him and held the water bottle tightly in his hands.

They both turned to look at the house.

The firemen had finally pulled out the hoses and tried to stop the fire from spreading.

Marco's eyes widened when he saw the state of the house. The roof had partially collapsed and the garage was a disaster.

"The garage… it exploded and brought down the roof…" Thatch whispered. "I thought you guys were gone." He whispered and covered his eyes with his other hand. His left hand held the remainings of the earlier water bottle, now crushed in his hand, the water had been spilled everywhere.

"To be fair… so did I", Marco managed to whisper. He started to cough and grabbed his chest in pain. He fell on his knees and started to fall backwards when Thatch caught him.

Thatch yelled for a paramedic who came to them with an oxygen mask and a tank.

The last thing Marco saw was Thatch's pale yet dirty face before his world went black.

* * *

Both Marco and Thatch refused to leave Luffy's side when he was being taken to the hospital.

Marco had the luck of being in the same room as Luffy when he woke up.

Both of his arms were heavily bandaged and his right leg was propped up, bandaged as well. A curtain separated him from Luffy.

"Took you long enough."

Thatch was sitting next to him and offered him a glass of water. Both of his arms had a thin layer of bandages. "How you feeling?"

Marco greedily gulped down the water and cleared his throat. "Better now that I'm out of that hell hole."

Thatch laughed, but it seemed forced. The sombre look returned to his face.

The door opened and a lanky man walked in. Marco expected him to be the doctor but when he saw the man, he sighed.

"Trafalgar, what are the odds of meeting you here, yoi."

Law took a chair and brought it by Marco's bed. Thatch snickered when he saw Law's face.

"Who gave you that sick eye, Trafalgar? Got into another argument with Corazón or did he fall on you?"

Law made a face pointed the curtain behind them. "He did."

"Luffy? But you two are friends, yoi. Why would he-"

"I accused Sabo for Ace-ya's murder and this upset him."

Thatch grabbed Law from the front of his jacket and stood up, dragging Law up with him. He sneered and glared at Law. "You _knew_?"

"Thatch-"

"I've had my suspicions for the past two years. Ever since Ace-ya's funeral." Law stared right back, gaze unfaltering even when the other looked ready to bite his head off.

"Trafalgar, you told him?" Thatch growled. Law nodded. " _Why?_ "

"I knew this would eventually happen and I didn't want him to live with a murderer! I owed Luffy-ya at least that much… it was better for him to hear the truth from me than some twisted version from Sabo!"

Thatch was about to argue but Marco cut in. "You were right about that Trafalgar, yoi. But you should have known how he'd have reacted for such an accusation. You could have come to us first and then, together, we could have tried to break it down to him-"

"You really think you two would have believed me? Even with all the evidence laid in front of you, you still would have doubted me." Law shot back, he released Thatch's hands around his jacket and sat in his chair.

"To be fair, I didn't want to believe it first either, but then I found the gravestone and it fit too well into this whole scenario."

"The gravestone? You mean mean the one at the old cemetery? Far back, near the gate?"

Law raised an eyebrow but nodded anyway. So they had seen it.

Marco groaned and flopped back against the pillows. All the answers had been lying in front of them all this time but none of them had looked at them.

A pained groan and a whimper startled the two. Thatch pulled the curtain aside to reveal the other patient. Luffy fought to open his eyes and gasped through the oxygen mask. His bandaged hands rose to his chest and he let out more pained whimpers.

Law rose and went to get the doctor. Thatch was by the boy's side and held his hands down. "Luffy, it's alright! You're safe now!"

"Thatch, give him space! He must be disoriented, yoi!"

"Sa…. Sabo…?"

"He's not here Luffy, you're safe."

"Eyes hurt", Luffy muttered and blinked his eyes repeatedly, tears ran down from his eyes.

"You've got smoke in your eyes, my boy."

Marco sat up and stared at the door where Edward Newgate stood with the doctor and Law. A couple of cops came to stand in the room.

"Pops?"

"Old man?"

"Marco, my son, you need to relax and take it easy. The doctor has informed me of your situation", Edward 'Whitebeard' Newgate smiled at his two adoptive sons and made way for the doctor to move over to Luffy.

"Luffy, can you hear me?"

Luffy grunted.

"Can you see me?"

"Y-yeah but my eyes ache and the tears won't stop. I wanna stop crying already!"

"It's quite alright, Luffy. Your eyes are cleaning themselves from the smoke, it will stop eventually." The doctor peeled the blanket gently off his torso.

"I'm just going to check your chest. It's quite badly burnt but with proper treatment I believe we can save the skin tissue from any further damage."

"My chest?" Luffy dried his eyes and looked down. His mouth fell open when the last layers of the gauze covering his chest. A horrific scar was at the center of his chest, almost shaped like an X.

"I'm afraid it will scar. What I've heard from your friends and collected from your state, the explosion hit you and caused you a third degree burn. Lucky for you it didn't hit your face."

Marco grimaced when he saw the scar. Luffy had spent almost three hours in a surgery because of that.

"But, but will it heal?" Luffy asked, the doctor nodded and took out some new gauze.

The two cops appeared next to Whitebeard and seemed to be asking questions. Edward looked over to where his sons and Luffy were and shrugged. "It is not something I can decide, you need to ask them yourselves."

Law went over to Luffy, debating whether or not sit by his bed and start a conversation. To his surprise Luffy smiled to him and waved him to come and sit next to him. When he did, he and Luffy stared at each other rather awkwardly. Law opened his mouth but Luffy beat him to it.

"I'm sorry Traffy."

"Wh- I'm the one who should be apologizing here!"

"You tried to warn me but I didn't listen to you. You were right…"

The cops chose this moment to approach Luffy's bed.

"Monkey D. Luffy, we would like to ask you some questions, if that is okay?"

* * *

Luffy was released from the hospital three weeks later. Marco and Thatch were there to pick him and take him to Marco's place. He'd be staying there until his and Ace's grandfather, Garp, would return to the city and take him to his place. The man had agreed that his grandson needed some time off from everything, and had promised to take him on a vacation.

After they had come back, Garp would help him to get back on his feet and start a new life.

Marco and Thatch had promised to find him a nice apartment from somewhere close to them and fix it up so Luffy could move straight in.

Many of his friends had visited him during the three weeks, all as shocked and confused with the whole situation as he was.

Zoro had said nothing when he, Nami, Sanji and Usopp had visited Luffy. Nami had tried to cheer him up by promising to take him out shopping later and Sanji had made delicious food for him. Usopp had showed him pictures from his phone he had taken with Chopper.

Luffy wasn't feeling as entertained as he had hoped he would, but smiled for the sake of his friends. His friends obviously saw through his smile however, and promised to come back later.

Zoro was a step behind the other three as they left, and turned to look at Luffy before he left too. He bowed his head slightly and moved away from the door to let a nurse in. Luffy knew him well enough to tell he was upset and angry at himself.

Robin, Franky, Brook and Chopper had visited him next. Brook was playing his guitar and Franky tried to cheer him up by playing cards with him and Chopper. Robin sat on the other bed and read.

She had obviously spoken with Nami and had decided to give Luffy some space.

Chopper had been holding back tears the whole time they were there, desperate to make Luffy smile or feel better.

They too left the room later but Robin had stayed behind.

She sat on the chair placed next to his bed and held his hand. She smiled gently.

"No one is rushing you to get better, Luffy. Take all the time you need. We will be here when you need us."

Her words made Luffy smile a little and he nodded.

 **xxxxxxxxx**

Along with his friends and relatives, the same two cops came to see him one evening before visiting hours ended.

Luffy wasn't too excited to see them again. He felt like they hadn't believed a word he had told them the day he had woken up but then again, at the moment he didn't really believe in anyone.

The two cops stood at the end of his bed, both quiet until the one with pink hair spoke:

"We couldn't find the body."

 **x**

That night, Marco received a phone call from the hospital that Luffy had disappeared from his room and just when he had opened his front door to run to the stairs, something slammed into him and refused to let go.

He had looked down and seen Luffy in just his hospital pyjamas and a cardigan. The boy had escaped the hospital after hearing the news and went straight to the first person he could think of.

Luffy had spent the night at his place and in the morning, Marco had driven back to the hospital to take Luffy back.

The two policemen were called back and Thatch let them have an earful of how stupid they both were. The two were startled and apologetic.

They explained the whole thing to Marco and Thatch.

Sabo's body hadn't been found and they couldn't find anything related to his whereabouts. The police had received a case file that contained evidence of Sabo murdering Ace and he was now under suspicion for two charges of first degree arson, one charge of first degree murder and a further charge of attempted murder. If he was caught, he'd spend the rest of his life in prison.

The cops were embarrassed that they hadn't realized the truth about the fake suspect, or seen through Sabo's lie.

"It's okay. I didn't either", Luffy had said and glared out of the window.

 **xxxxx**

His brother was still out there.

Alive and breathing.

He felt uneasy but knew well enough that if Sabo ever came for him, he'd be ready. He had people around him ready to help him if needed to.

It had been over six months since that one night Luffy wished to forget.

He had his own apartment right next to Marco's apartment building and a couple of blocks from Thatch's. It was a nice place and he was able to call it home, even when everything in it was new and held no bonds with him.

Everything he owned had burned in that fire. There was nothing left. The only things he had were the books and bag he had saved from Sabo. He still had Ace.

Luffy smiled. He finally felt like he was over Ace's death. His brother was still looking after him, even in the afterlife.

Sabo had managed to mark him, just like he had promised he would. The scar on his chest was still healing but everytime he looked at it, he remembered Sabo.

His hand rose to his chest and he touched the place he knew the scar was located at. It still hurt but not as much as it used to.

Luffy looked out of the window to the darkening sky and sighed. Summer was finally here but he didn't feel warm at all.

It felt like someone was watching him from the shadows everywhere he went. But every time he turned to look, no one was there.

His imagination was probably playing tricks on him.

He heard his phone vibrate on the kitchen counter and grabbed it.

It had to be either Marco or Thatch. They had planned a movie night and both of them had the habit of texting him if he wanted anything from the store, ending with them both bringing twice as much as they had originally planned. Then they would argue whose turn it was to bring food.

Luffy chuckled and opened the screen lock. But he frowned when he didn't recognize the number of the sender.

Thinking it was a junk message, he opened it and read the first two words when he went white and threw the phone away.

He was panting for breath and brought his hands up to his hair and pulled.

 _Nononononono…!_

 _He-he had to call Marco!_

Luffy felt tears drop down from his eyes and he fell on his knees.

He had another phone in his bedroom he ran to get it but the battery was dead. He didn't want to get the phone he had thrown away. He didn't want to see the text message on the screen.

Luffy froze when he heard the doorbell.

As if the time had frozen he turned to stare at the door. The ringing was getting louder and louder in his ears and he had to cover them to keep the sound away.

Luffy licked his dry lips and tip toed to the door and looked through the peephole.

Someone with a hood over their head stood in front of the door. Luffy saw blond hair and the person waved.

It had to be Marco.

Calming a little, Luffy opened the door.

"Marco, I was just about to call you!"

He let Marco in and closed the door behind him. Marco's jacket was wet, he was awfully wet for coming across the yard.

"I received this text message and if you could take a look at it I'd be grateful-"

" _But of course._ "

Luffy froze. His back was to Marco. He turned around slowly and saw his guest removing the hood.

Sabo was smiling that horrifyingly familiar smile as he removed the rest of his jacket. Luffy's eyes widened when he saw that the left side of his face was burned and his left eye was pale blue compared to the right one. His eyes moved down to his arms and to the black leather gloves covering his burnt skin continued down to under Sabo's shirt.

Luffy shrieked and tried to get away but Sabo was quicker. He grabbed Luffy by his waist and brought him against him and hugged him. His mouth was right next to Luffy's ear.

Luffy whimpered when he felt Sabo breath in his ear. He sobbed when the hands holding him tightened and Sabo nudged his ear with his nose and whispered:

" _My darling little brother."_

 ** _~fin~_**

* * *

 **[A/N] Aaaaaand there you have it!**

 **Like I said, this will have an alternative ending, which will be much happier than this one. :3c I just need to finish it, hopefully I get it done soon. What did you guys think? I really like writing these types of things, even if it means hurting my precious children.  
I was thinking about a third part but decided against it, thought the other ending would be fine. Maybe I'll make another Dark!Sabo AU fic, with alive Ace this time, hopefully. **

**I asked Freckles when I started this fic and they told me I first linked them the doc link on January the 19th, which means I started the fic about three days earlier, I think. I finished it after a month and a half, I do believe, but this file was so big (40 pages yo) it took longer to beta than I thought. Seriously, I was ready to rip off my hair at the middle of writing this because my thoughts kept wandering off to places.**

 **But now it's DONE** _YAAAAAY~_

 **A big thank you to Freckles and Aye-i-could-do-that for betaing this, BedlamWolf too since she gave it the first look before Freckles and gave it the thumbs up.**

 **Please leave a comment on your way out! :3c  
See you at the end of the Omake once I've finished it!**

 **Buh-bye!**


	2. Chapter 2: The happier ending

**[A/N]**

 **Hello ppl of … whatever, I'm too tired**

 **here is the "happy" ending i promised you! :3 This continues from the point when Luffy gets to the cemetery!**

 **Hope you guys enjoy it!**

 **Characters © Eiichiro Oda  
Story © samettikettu  
Beta © bedlamwolf, raftelcalling and aye-i-could-do-that**

 **Please stay tuned for the message at the end**

* * *

Luffy was panting hard.

He had managed to hide in the cemetery, half hoping for someone to be there. No one was there at such an hour.

Biting his lip in frustration, Luffy wrapped his arms around himself.  
It was so cold!

The snow had finally stopped falling but the wind was so raw and blew hard.

Looking around, he noted he was near Marshall D. Teach's grave, which meant Ace's was further away.

He felt bad for the man. If things were as Law had said, his brother had framed a dead, innocent man for the murder of his brother. There was probably no information of the man in the archives so no one knew where to look so no one even considered him being dead in the first place.

When this all was over, Luffy would bring a candle once in a while to the grave.

He continued his way through the cemetery and after taking the wrong turn twice, he found Ace.

His eyes grew sad and he took in a shuddering breath.

"Oh Ace", Luffy said quietly as he stood in front of the stone. He wiped the snow off the stone and the cowboy hat. He crouched down and did the same thing to the many flowers in front of the stone. Even Ace's name was covered in snow.

"How did everything come down to this?" he spoke quietly to himself.

"What did we- what did _I_ do wrong?"

He wasn't lying if he said he wished for Ace to answer him. How he would wake up from this horrible nightmare and both of his brothers would be there.

"I miss you Ace", Luffy spoke gently. He sniffed from the cold. "I miss both of you."

"And I miss you." Came from right next to his ear.

Luffy froze, eyes widening and mouth slightly open. He swallowed air and slowly turned around to see Sabo crouching right behind him. That damned smile on his face.

"Sabo…"

Sabo sighed and shook his head with a small smirk on his lips.

"You really are predictable, Luffy. My sweet, little brother."

Luffy jumped on his feet and spun behind the gravestone. Sabo stood up slowly and put his hand in his jacket's pockets.

Silence settled between them. Luffy was too scared to say anything and Sabo simply enjoyed the frightened look on Luffy's face.

"I see you left the bag somewhere", Sabo finally said. He tilted his head slightly to the side and studied Luffy.

"..." feeling naked under Sabo's eyes, Luffy switched his weight from foot to foot. Everything was telling him to run but he had nowhere to run to from there. Snow reached his knees where he now stood and the only way to escape was to get past Sabo.

"And I wonder where", Sabo took a step to the right - Luffy took a step to the right as well. He wanted to keep the distance between them. Sabo made a disappointed face.

"Aw Luffy, you're breaking my heart! Come on now, let's go home", he reached for his baby brother, who in turn took a couple of steps back in the snow. His eyes landed on his brother's feet and made his decision.

"I don't want to Sabo! You're acting really weird!"

"Ah, you are mistaken, Luffy!" Sabo held out his arms, keeping his brother's attention on his hands. Luffy eyed him suspiciously, ready to run.

"As I said before, I am only thinking what's best for you!" Sabo took a step back and started to phase in front of the stone.

"Thinking about Ace is not healthy for you. You can't keep thinking about the past, you need to move on", he told the other matter-of-factly. He had his hands behind his back and looked both up and down as he spoke. He needed to act as innocently as he possibly could. He could see Luffy's body relax from the corner of his eye.

"I know it's hard for you to get over his death, but my god Luffy - it has been two years. You need to let go and live on! That's what Ace would want you to do!"

"Y-yeah, but…"

"Luffy, my darling little brother… Come home with me, you must be freezing."

Sabo held out his arms, waiting for Luffy to leap into his embrace - like he usually would. The boy's body leaned forward and it seemed he was going to come to him, but Luffy pulled back.

"Sabo, tell me."

"Hmm?" Sabo's patience was running low but he still maintained the sweet smile.

"Who really killed Ace?"

Taken aback by the question, Sabo lowered his arms and seemed puzzled. "What are you-"

"Answer me, Sabo", gaining confidence, Luffy stood against his brother. " _Who_ killed Ace?"

"Oh, but it was that Marshall D. Teach, Luffy. Can't you remem-"

"Liar."

"Excuse me?"

"Liar! Marshall D. Teach is dead, he'd been dead for over thirty years Sabo!"

Sabo said nothing. He kept his eyes on Luffy and did nothing. He wanted to hear how much his brother _knew_.

Luffy pointed at him accusingly. " _You lied_ to me. You lied to everyone else too! You put the blame on a dead man - why?!"

Remaining silent, Sabo watched Luffy. Just watched.

"How could you possible benefit from blaming someone who's been dead all along?! Were you willingly messing up the whole investigation with your rumors? You've kept me in a short leash for the past two years because you said there was a cold blooded murderer after me! You know how scared I was?!"

Letting go of the anxiety and frustration he had kept to himself these past years he finally erupted. He was so mad, tired, confused and exhausted. He wanted all of this to end. He needed to vent everything out and Sabo just happened to be the source of everything he had felt all this time.

Luffy kept going and paid no particular attention to Sabo.

"If the police isn't looking for the killer then who are they looking for?! Only the true murderer would benefit from the false accusations and-"

" _Sabo has been lying to you all this time -"_

" _So I believe, it was Sabo who actually_ murdered _Ace—"_

 **Only the murderer would benefit from the false accusations.**

Sabo stood right in front of him.

It all made sense now.

"Sabo… you-" Luffy stuttered and tried to take a step back but Sabo had grabbed him by his wrist and raised it over Luffy's head, twisting it.  
Luffy let out a surprised cry.

It was the silence that scared Luffy more than anything, that and the serious yet calm look on Sabo's face.

"What did you _do_?!" he cried out, the weight of the situation finally clear to him.

 **Sabo had killed Ace.**

"You- You, you _murderer_!" he screamed, not caring if he got a hold on him or not.

Sabo had murdered Ace. He had killed their brother. _His brother had killed his other brother._

The whole situation was sick and twisted. Luffy tried to pull his arm away, screaming and hitting Sabo's chest. He needed to get away. He didn't want to be anywhere near this person anymore!

Luffy winced when Sabo's grip on his wrist tightened which also made him realize the possible danger he was in. He was dealing with his brother's murderer here.

Sabo was dangerous.

And he had him in his hold.

Who knew what he would do to him?!

Panic finally settled in Luffy and he began to trash in Sabo's hold. His brother didn't even move when Luffy's fist hit him in the chest and stomach.

Luffy raised his leg and kicked Sabo in the shin. Sabo yelled and let go of Luffy to double over and rub his leg.

Luffy used this momentum to jump over Ace's tombstone and ran as fast he could. His wrist ached but he paid it no mind. If he didn't get away from Sabo now, well, he didn't even want to think how much he would be hurting after that. He was capable of _murder_! Which meant, he was capable of hurting Luffy much worse than just this. He just didn't want to think how much worse.

He wasn't far when he heard Sabo yell his name. It didn't sound like his name though. More like a random scream of rage. The sound made his throat go dry and tears burned his eyes. He was _terrified_!

He ran back where he came from, fear tearing him on the inside when he heard Sabo right behind him. He pushed himself to go faster, harder.

* * *

Luffy let himself take a calming breath when he got out of the cemetery and reached to one of his old hiding places. It was at the docks, an old fisherman's house he had discovered when he was still a kid and before he had met Ace. Before they had met Sabo.

This was the place he used to come to to watch Shanks, a fisherman and a darn cool one too! Luffy would sneak out to the docks every time they'd be heading out to the ocean to fish and try to get on board.

He'd hide here and wait for the grown-ups to look elsewhere, then sneak out and try to get on the ship.

But Shanks had a first mate who had the eyes of an eagle who always caught him before Luffy even managed to get his foot on the ship.

Benn would lift him up and hold him out for everybody to see. Shanks would come down and laugh at him. Then he'd try and lecture him but even Luffy knew Shanks wasn't the right person to lecture a child. Shanks had had a soft spot on him, and still did.

Eventually Luffy would lay off and wouldn't beg to be let on board. That was after his grandfather had introduced Ace to him.

He then showed Ace the docks and it became their playground. By then Luffy had completely forgotten about sneaking on board the ship, even when Shanks was painfully obvious about trying to lure him on board so he'd tease him.

Those were good days… Too bad he could never have them back.

Luffy snapped out of his daydreaming and looked around to see if Sabo was anywhere to be seen.  
When the coast was clear, he easily picked the lock and went inside.

The house was cold but if he remembered correctly, there was a secret door where they'd kept spare blankets, ah there it was. Amazing, even after 12 years the blankets were still there. And they didn't even smell bad nor had any mold on them. Luffy wrapped the two blankets around himself and went to sit under the table by the window.

The moon was bright tonight, he thought to himself. With most of the clouds aside, the moon was left to shine brightly on the dark sky. The moonlight came right through the window, illuminating the floor.

He'd hide here till the morning and then go back to Marco's place.

Speaking of him, Luffy wondered if he had tried to call him after he had appeared behind his door out of blue. He probably had, if Sabo had been at his door right after him.

Luffy pulled out his phone and saw a couple missed calls and texts. Sure enough, the calls were from Marco, Thatch and Zoro. He decided to ignore them for now and looked through the new text messages.

Most of them were from Marco, asking what the hell was going on and why was Sabo acting so weird. The recent ones were also from Marco, asking for his whereabouts and that he and Thatch were out looking for him.

Tapping the screen, Luffy began to type a reply to Marco, telling where he was and asked them to come quick.

The whole situation felt better now that he knew help was on its way to him.

In about five minutes a reply came from Marco and before he could open it, Thatch called him. Luffy felt hope souring into him. He swiped the screen with his thumb and brought the phone close to his ear, eyes planted on the floor. "Hello?"

"Luffy?! _Thank god Marco he picked up!"_

He could hear Marco speaking in the background. His eyes roamed around the small room, ending up on the floor. He feared he'd see Sabo's silhouette appear there. He didn't want that, oh god please help him!

" _Luffy? Hey buddy, where are you?"_

" _Sabo was acting real weird, yoi. What's going on? Are you in trouble?"_

He brought his other hand over his mouth and took a shuddering breath. There was still a way out of this! "Please… _Help me_ ", he whispered. He feared too much to raise his voice above whisper. The night was too quiet and smallest noises startled him. _'Please find me…'_

" _Where are you, yoi?"_ Marco's voice was calm and helped him to relax. _"Luffy, we're on our way to help you. Is Sabo there? Do you know where he is?"_

Luffy shook his head but realized Marco couldn't see him. He swallowed before he spoke, "I-I'm at the docks, in the old fisherman house. I don't, I don't know where Sabo is… I lost him at the cemetery."

He swallowed again and fought to keep himself from crying. "P-please help me."

" _We're on our way"_ , he could hear wind hitting the phone. They were running. _"Just, just hold on and stay there."_ And then the line went silent.

They were on their way to help him! The panic and fear were slowly drifting away from his mind. He felt calm, he was going to be alright. When Marco and Thatch would get here, he'd get away and be safely away from Sabo.

Somehow he felt guilty but Sabo was-

 **Sabo had killed Ace.**

The thought made his blood run cold. What on earth had possessed Sabo to commit such a crime? No one normal or sane would ever commit a murder!

Wait. Hadn't the police said something about arson? _...No way!_

Everything was slowly coming together. Luffy felt himself tense and grip the phone hard in his hands. Sabo had killed Ace and left him inside the warehouse to die? Or, had he tied him up and left him in there to die? The police had said there were no signs of physical fighting or struggling…

Suddenly there was no air and the phone slipped from his hands. Luffy felt numb and couldn't hear a thing.

 **Sabo had left Ace to die!?**

 _And now he was after him…_

Luffy's fists were shaking, nails cutting into his palms. He was furious at his so-called brother. How could he?! Ace was their brother - they had sworn to be there for each other, always!

Sabo was selfish and insane!

He wasn't his brother anymore. Luffy hated him - he wanted nothing to do with him anymore!  
Luffy needed to get away from him, as far as possible. Report him to the police and-

Luffy's eyes landed on floor, illuminated by the moonlight outside of the window. He went rigid and could feel all the blood being swept out of him as the coldness began to freeze his limbs to the floor.

A shadow.

A silhouette.

His eyes darted to the door across the room.

Had he locked it?  
He swallowed, it couldn't be Sabo. It just couldn't. Sabo couldn't know about the house, they had never come here - this was his and Ace's place! Unless… Ace had told Sabo out the place.

Luffy flinched when he heard tapping on the glass, then it got quiet again. Footsteps moved away from the window and got farther away to the right. How had he not heard the steps?!

The phone laid on the floor a short distance from him and Luffy rose to his knees. He slowly began to crawl towards it when he heard the same footsteps return.

He could recognize the steps.

There was only one set of the footsteps, not two.

They weren't calling for him. His phone hadn't lit up even once when he first noticed the person outside.

The footsteps were slow and caused his heart beat faster every time there was a pause to them. Then he heard it, the humming. The person was humming a song, it sounded like a lullaby.

Luffy's head whipped to the side when the silhouette appeared in front of the window again, long shadow spread across the floor. He got up to his knees and crouched by the table when the first tap sounded again.

He bit his lower lip and craned his neck enough to look past the old, dusty curtains to see his brother with a small smile on his lips. The humming came from him.

His eyes then moved on the object in the other's hands as it came hard through the window, shattering it. Luffy jumped to his feet and got away from the window as fast as possible. The glass was everywhere and his body shook as he took in the horrifying sight of his brother coming through the window, with a piece of pipe in his hands.

The moon behind Sabo made him look horrifying, straight from Luffy's nightmares. His hair was messy and his bangs had fallen over his face, hiding his left eye. The shadows on Sabo's body made him look dangerous and lethal. Sabo looked up and smiled, revealing his teeth. His blue eyes glinted in the dark and at that moment, Luffy felt like he was the prey of the most dangerous species of all.

The two of them stood in the room and said nothing. Luffy gripped his phone hard, he heard the cover crack.

The door was right behind him, if he could just distract Sabo to get to the door. The phone vibrated in his hand and he knew it was Thatch. They hadn't found him in time.

There were several fisherman's houses at the docks so finding this particular one was tricky. Which reminded him…

"How did you know about this place", his voice was cold and emotionless. Sabo tilted his head, the damn smile still on his lips.

"Only Ace and I knew about this place. This was _our_ special place!"

He had began to hum again. The tune was disturbingly familiar and made his skin crawl.

Luffy took a step back, eyes on Sabo the whole time. The other made no move, didn't even move a muscle.

His hand found the door knob and he fiddled it to find a way to open it quickly. This whole scenario disturbed him to the core. Something wasn't right. He heard the door click and could feel it opening behind him. But unfortunately for him,

 _so did Sabo._

His brother's eyes flashed as he charged at him, the pipe ready to swing. Luffy screeched and dashed out, slamming the door to the other's face. He only had a few seconds to get away as fast as possible, to gain distance!

He ran to the warehouse area behind the house and looked down at his phone. The buildings passed him quickly as he ran aimlessly to somewhere - _anywhere!_

Thatch had tried to call him so he hit the call button to call him back. The line opened almost immediately. _"Luffy?!"_

"He found me!" he screeched out of breath. "He's here at the docks, after me!"

" _We're here too but we can't find you! Where are you!?"_

"I'm-", Luffy stopped to catch his breath and to look around. No sight of Sabo, or anyone. He needed to meet up the other two somewhere so they could think of a plan together!

" _Luffy!?"_ Thatch called frantically over the phone. Luffy looked up to the sky, the clouds were forming again. There had to be some sort of a landmark so he could tell Thatch where he was!

His eyes landed on the flagpole at the center of the warehousearea. He had an idea. "Thatch!"

* * *

Marco was shaking in anguish as they passed yet another fisherman's house. Ace had told them about the house he and Luffy used to play in as kids but failed to mention at which dock it was. Thatch was trying to call Luffy for the fifth time.

"He's not answering!"

"He must be hiding, yoi. You heard how frightened he sounded!"

"No kidding, I would be too", Thatch looked around. They were at the docks, warehouses were everywhere. He began to feel claustrophobic.

"Thatch, your phone is ringing!"

Almost dropping the phone mid-answering, Thatch swiped the screen with this finger and brought it up to his ear. "Luffy!?"

" _He found me!"_

Marco bit his lip, fingers running in his hair.

" _He's here at the docks, after me!"_

Thatch glanced at Marco and saw him pulling his hair, he needed to do something before his friend would end up bald. "We're here too but we can't find you! Where are you!?"

"We need a location or a landmark, yoi! Otherwise we can't find him!"

"I know that man."

' _Details Luffy, details! We need details to find you!'_

" _I'm-"_ , the line went quiet and Thatch felt his heart skip beat and from the look on Marco's face, his had jumped up to his throat. Had Sabo found him?! "Luffy!?"

" _Thatch!"_

"Y-yeah?"

" _Can you see the flagpole?!"_

"Flagpole?" Marco looked around, then pointed the pole behind two rows of warehouses. "Yeah we see it!"

" _Okay, meet me there. We need to get out of here before Sabo does something-"_

Suddenly everything shook and a hot wave of air hit them. Thatch had lost his balance and fell on the ground bewildered. Marco looked around, eyes sharp and his pocket knife in his hand. Thatch crawled on all fours to get his phone that laid screen down on the ground. The line was still open. "L-Luffy?! What was that?!"

" _The warehouses…"_

"Thatch…" Marco was pale and looked ten years older. Thatch didn't want to look around but dammit, Luffy had gone dead silent and he could hear the little guy's breath hitch. Thatch bit his lip and looked around them to see…

"He set everything on _fire_ …"

 **xxxxxx**

Luffy shook as he took in everything.

This had to be a nightmare.

The wave had sent him on the ground, his hands had automatically flown up to cover his neck. The air was hot and thick, Luffy rose to all fours and looked around. The humming, it was there again. Even when the air was hot and hard to breathe, he felt cold and the air was freezing cold. His lungs burned when he breathed in.

Luffy stood on his shaky legs and took in the sight of the burning warehouses. He'd still see the flagpole.

Were Marco and Thatch okay?  
His phone was in his hand, he'd hear Thatch calling him.

Sabo was trying to confuse them and get them off track. He wanted them to get lost so he'd finish them off!

"Thatch!" he shouted over the noise. "Get to the flagpole! Let's think about the rest after the meet up!"

" _Okay, be safe kid."_

Luffy put his phone away in his pocket and began to jog to the meeting point. The humming, it was still there.

The flagpole just up ahead.

He got to the pole before the other two.

Luffy looked around, taking in all the fire and destruction. He was shivering from the cold, his clothes were wet and he couldn't feel his fingers. Everything ached and he was so tired.

But he was going to be alright once Thatch and Marco got here!

He spun around when he heard familiar voices calling for him. Marco was yelling something at him but he couldn't understand what. Thatch ran past the other and threw his body at Luffy. The small teen screamed in surprise when Thatch took them both down. He looked up for an explanation and he saw Marco step in and throw a vicious punch at someone and it didn't take him long to guess who.

Sabo had crept up behind him and tried to strike him down when he thought he had had the chance. But Marco and Thatch had been in time to see it and fast enough to prevent it from happening.

While the other held Sabo down, Thatch ripped Luffy off the ground and began to run, dragging Luffy behind him.

Marco would be after them once he had settled the score with Sabo.

"N-not this way Thatch! We're only heading back to the docks!"

"The whole entrance is on fire! There is no other way out!"

"Then why-"

"The ice is still thick enough to withstand our weight! The fire department must've noticed the fire and is on its way, we're going on to the ice and wait for them to pick us up", Thatch took a sharp right and pushed forward.

Luffy could hear the sirens over the crackling fire and clanking metal. The help was almost here! He could feel tears forming in his eyes, blurring his vision.

 _Everything was going to be alright!_

 **xxxxxx**

Marco held Sabo down and threw another vicious punch, hitting the other square in the mouth. Sabo's face was bloody, his nose was broken but still his eyes stared right into his. This sick bastard..!

"What the fuck is wrong with you, yoi!?"

"..."

"Luffy is your _brother_!"

"So _what_?"

" _So wh-?!_ Ace and you always competed who was the better older brother! You two adored Luffy and he adores you! Do you think _Ace_ would want you to target Luffy just for some argument?!"

"..."

"Luffy is scared to death of you!"

"Good."

"Wha-"

"I _want_ him to be afraid of me. I want him to _look_ at me like Ace did before he died. I want _him_ to _look at me_ , and only me. He's _mine_."

Marco bared teeth and grabbed Sabo by the front of his jacket and slammed him hard in the ground. The other's eyes didn't move from his and the other's lips twitched just slightly. Sabo _smiled_. His usually blinding white smile was dirtied with blood.

Suddenly, he felt horribly wrong. Something wasn't right here.

This was all wrong! Sabo couldn't be serious, could he? Had he just indicated that he had-

A shiver ran through Marco when he saw the smile morph into one straight from nightmares. This, this was…

"What… What did _you do!?_ "

Another powerful wave of heat threw Marco off of Sabo and he ended up on his side in the snow. He coughed and propped himself up to his forearms.

His ears were ringing and his side hurt.

Had the bastard set up yet another explosive in case his surprise attack failed? Marco groaned and pushed himself up to his knees, he rubbed his cheek.  
His eyes widened as he took in his bearings.

 _Sabo wasn't here!_

 _Sabo had…_

 _Ace… He had killed Ace..!_

 _Luffy!_

Marco rose to his shaking feet and took staggering steps forward, almost slumping on the ground. The explosion had done a number on his body. He felt frustrated at himself.

If Sabo got to Thatch and Luffy and did something to hurt them, harm Luffy - it'd be all his fault. He hadn't been strong enough to keep Sabo away or smart enough to realize the other might have a backup plan.

He needed to go and save them.

He had promised Ace he'd look after Luffy in his place..

Grinding his teeth together, Marco rose to his aching feet and began to walk towards the docks, his pace gaining speed by every step. He _needed_ to get to them before it was too late!

* * *

Luffy looked over at the frozen ocean in wonder, and with small fear.

The docks were mostly empty from the ships, most of them had been taken to the warehouses for winter. Only a couple of bigger cargo ships rested in the frozen ocean. He had asked Thatch if they'd climb on board one but the man had shaken his head. It was too dangerous to climb on one. The decks would be covered in ice and snow, there was no way for them to get up there safely.

What if the ice was frail and broke under them? He couldn't swim! They wouldn't be able to get up and would sink under the ice and never get out? And the water was cold, even if Thatch was a great swimmer and could pull them out of the water and on the ice, they didn't know how far the fire department was and how long they'd have to wait for help. They'd freeze - with Sabo after them.

The sky was starting to look threatening again. The wind had picked up and froze Luffy to his core. The clouds were slowly piling up and didn't look friendly at all.

The first flakes had started to fall down, they were small and seemed innocent enough but he knew better. Soon there would be yet another storm, bigger than the one earlier that night.

Thatch looked around for ladders or a point where they could easily jump on the ice. The ice looked thick and strong enough, hopefully it was as thick farther beyond as it was near the land. "Luffy, I will go first and find a safe path for us to cross, okay? Wait for me here."

"B-but what about-"

"Marco can handle himself, calm down."

"But what about that explosion a moment ago?! It came from their direction!" Luffy exclaimed anxiously, his fist were shaking. It was either from the cold or fear, probably both. Thatch looked away and bit his lip, he'd understand the kid's worry. He was worried too! But he and Marco both knew Luffy's safety came first.

They needed to get him away from the psycho. Why was he even targeting Luffy? Everything wasn't alright here. This wasn't just an argument in a kitchen table, no. This went farther.

Luffy was _frightened_.

He had run away from home and hidden away. He had brought Ace's old stuff to Marco and then left without an explanation! Something was up.

"Why is Sabo even after you?"

Luffy didn't look at him.

He stared his feet, his whole body had frozen to the spot and he refused to say a word. Thatch frowned at the curious scene. "This can't be a normal argument about the last piece of meat you three sometimes had."

"I,... Sabo, he-", Luffy's jaw clenched shut and turned his head away. He couldn't say it!

"Luffy?"

"..."

"What did Sabo _do_?"

Luffy looked at him, something shone in his eyes, it made Thatch stomach drop. He didn't like the look on the boy's face. He didn't like the darkness in his eyes.

The snow was coming down harder, Thatch shuddered at the cold.

"He-"

"We need to get out of here **now**."

They both spun around to see Marco, an arm wrapped over his midriff. He looked horrible. His hair was tousled and he had snow over his shoulders, his face was red from the cold. Thatch rushed to his side, Luffy could only stare in horror at his state. He could barely hear Thatch ask how he was feeling and how bad had he hurt himself. Marco's eyes refused to move from Luffy's, making him feel uncomfortable.

"Okay, you heard the man, we need to move," Thatch helped his friend to lean against him and put Marco's other arm over his shoulders so he'd help him move without straining himself too much. Luffy made way for the two as they went down to the docks. Thatch jumped on the ice first and helped Marco to slide down, Luffy followed suit.

"The ice is thicker near the land so let's stay close to the docks", Thatch glanced over his vacant shoulder to Luffy, who kept looking at their backs. The kid seemed nervous and on the edge but who'd blame him? He had a psycho after his life and they didn't even know why!

"Luffy", Marco's voice was sharp, causing the kid to jump. Thatch frowned at his attitude.

"Y-yeah?"

"I want to ask you something, yoi."

"Marco, take it easy on the boy!"

"I need to know!" Marco argued, he pushed Thatch farther away from him. He turned around to meet Luffy's startled eyes. The boy swallowed thickly and took a tentative step back. The snow came down hard, painting everything white.

"Marco what the hell!?"

 _"Did Sabo kill Ace!?"_

* * *

He could see them on the ice. They thought they'd be safe from him there.

The fire department had arrived but was too busy fighting the fire to realize there were people trapped at the docks. It'd take them time for them to get there.

Sabo smiled as he saw Marco push Thatch away, he saw how the man's legs shuddered under his own weight. Luffy had backed up from the other two.

He'd get to them now, their attention was on Luffy and they were blind to their surroundings. The wind had picked up once more and the snow came down thickly. He'd get to them, snatch Luffy and kill the other two. They knew too much.

Luffy was _his_ to keep.

His little brother.

His naughty little brother…

Marco had been pushed away and Thatch held Luffy in his arms now. Sabo sneered at the sight of his little brother in another man's arms. He looked around and when he was sure the group's attention was on Luffy, he moved.

* * *

Luffy took another step back and chew on his lower lip. He'd taste iron on his tongue. Marco took a step forward and his hands flew up to Luffy's shoulders, startling the boy. The man's grip was bruising but Luffy was too afraid to yelp when Marco squeezed harder.

Thatch stood where Marco had pushed him, face pale and eyes bulging out of his head. Had he heard that right?

"Luffy", Marco was stern. "It was a simple yes or no question!"

Luffy flinched violently when Marco shook him. He trembled and tears began to blur his vision. The tears started to roll down his to cheeks and the taste of iron hit his tongue once more.

"Marco calm down you're scaring him!" Thatch ripped the other man's hands off the kid and put his gentler hands around Luffy, bringing him to his chest. The kid was trembling, Thatch glanced over to where Marco stood. The man seemed to be realizing how he had acted, shame evident on his face.

"Luffy", he started gently. He felt the boy tense in his arms. The kid was scared. "Is what Marco said true? Did Sabo murder Ace?"

The kid didn't move and Thatch was sure he was holding his breath. He was starting to get worried when the kid stayed silent. The snow was hitting his face and he shivered from the cold. Where on earth were the firemen?!

He almost missed the small move against his chest. He blinked and looked down to see brown eyes staring up at him, red from crying. Thatch tilted his head, Luffy nodded again.

Had he…

Did he..?

Luffy nodded again, fresh tears appearing in his eyes, they fell down as he nodded again and began to cry loudly into Thatch's chest.

Thatch felt like his world had been shattered, someone had swiped the floor from underneath him. This couldn't be true! But Luffy was howling brokenly into his chest, voice muffled but his jacket.

Marco slumped in the snow and covered his eyes with his hand. He balled his other hand into a fist and hit the ice underneath him.

' _We missed the obvious hints… We let Luffy live with a psycho murderer over two years and now he's out there trying to kill us all…'_

"We need to move."

"What?" Marco looked up, startled by the serious face.

"The warehouse area is in flames and we're just sitting here, waiting for him to get to us!" Thatch kept his hand around Luffy while with the other he fished for something from his pocket. He pulled out his phone and dialed a three-digit number.

"Thatch, what are you doing?"

"I'm doing what we'd have done for the very beginning," he hit the green button on the screen and brought the phone to his ear. "I'm calling the cops."

 **xxxxxx**

Luffy felt horrible.

He hadn't told them about Sabo and endangered them all by doing so. Marco got hurt because of him - he and Thatch had nothing to do with this! This was between him and Sabo. He didn't know what had caused Sabo to act like this or why he had taken Ace's life.

These two would only end up getting hurt if they continued like this. He wouldn't allow that.

Luffy took a step back, forcing Thatch to pull his arm back. Marco's attention was on him the moment he took the step. The man's eyes widened and he threw his arm towards Luffy, trying to grab him by the leg. Thatch was still on the phone, he frowned at Marco's behavior.

"Luf _FY NO!_ "

"This is… I need to… I'm sorry!" Luffy turned around took running steps towards the land, only to be caught in someone's arms. He could recognize the aftershave anywhere.

Behind him, Thatch gasped and called his name in panic. Marco was cussing and fighting to get onto his feet. "Let him go you sick sonuvabitch!"

The arms tightened around him, bringing him closer to the person's chest. Luffy went stiff, cold fear weighing down his every limb, preventing him from moving. The hands holding him hurt. They burned and left bruises everywhere they touched.

" _My Luffy_ …"

The kid snapped out of his trance when he felt the other bury his nose in his hair. He began to struggle, shaking his head and tried to get his hands in between their chests so he'd push Sabo away. He kicked and tried to stomp on the other's feet. But nothing made Sabo's hold falter, instead the other grabbed him hard around the biceps and spun him around to face the other two.

Marco was pale and visibly shaking, Thatch was no better - his phone bent in his hand. Sabo smirked as he drank in their expressions. Luffy trembled violently in his hands, a whine left him when the hands holding him tightened. He failed to notice the right hand disappearing briefly into his brother's pocket and then return. He'd hear Thatch gasp, he wondered why.

Sabo leaned down and placed his head on the smaller boy's shoulder so his face was on the same level. Luffy could feel the other's breath next to his ear. His brother's face appeared next to his and he tried to move his head away but Sabo yanked him back, his biceps were burning. It hurt!

"You tried to run away from me, your own big brother," his voice was smooth and sliced through the air. Sabo smiled and removed his right hand from Luffy's bicep. The boy wondered why but saw the pocket knife. The sharp edge was turned against his throat and he flinched when the cold metal touched him. Sabo's left arm moved over his chest, pulling him tightly against the other.

"Sabo please…"

"Shhh, it'll only take a short moment, baby brother. You won't feel a thing," Sabo kissed Luffy's cheek. His lips tugged up to a smirk as he glanced the other two from the corner of his eye. Thatch's hand was shaking, the phone bent weird. Marco stood next to him, face pale and unreadable.

Sabo's eyes moved between the two of them.

He took in their faces and expression, he sneered. "There is a way for you to get out of this alive. You will let Luffy come back with me and never come looking for us."

"Yeah like that's gonna happen you _murderer_!"

"The police is on its way here! They will catch you and lock you behind the bars - where you belong!"

Sabo straightened, knife still next to Luffy's throat. The boy whimpered when edge got too close and drew a little bit of blood. The older didn't seem to notice, or care.

"And why would they do that?" he smiled pleasantly, bangs over his eyes. Marco shivered at the obvious threat.

"We know everything - _you_ killed Ace!"

"Ah, and what makes you think that?"

"It was all there! We didn't realize it in time but then Luffy confirmed it we-"

" _Luffy_ did?" Sabo tilted his head and looked surprised. Thatch frowned and took a tentative forward only to be stopped by Sabo who pointed the blade at him.

Marco grabbed his friend by his sleeve and pulled him back.

They couldn't afford any mistakes. Not when Luffy's life was at stake.

The arm holding the knife returned to Luffy's throat. Sabo took the boy's chin between his fingers and turned his head up, he stared him dead in the eye. The kid was shaking from fear, tears running freely down to his cheeks. The older smiled, then pressed a kiss on the kid's forehead. He could feel the latter's trembling worsen under him but it made him smile and excited about the situation he had created. He was in control of the situation.

This was _his_ moment.

"W-what are y-you goin' to… do?" Luffy sobbed, he wanted away. He needed to get away. He wanted Ace!

Sabo looked his face and then smiled, god he was starting to hate that smile! It wasn't gentle or nice, it wasn't the smile he was used on seeing on Sabo.

"I already told you, silly," the older cupped his cheek with the hand holding the knife. "I'm marking you as my own."

" _Marking_ him?" Marco muttered to himself, Thatch glanced at him. His blinked and looked down into his hand, an idea forming in his head.

"B-but why?! I already am your little brother and Ace's too-", Luffy gasped. Sabo's face had darkened and the hand on his face and gone down to his throat. Now the other was strangling him, his feet dangled in the air. His hands flew up to the arms holding him. He wheezed and tried to cry out. Sabo glared up at him, his face showed absolute hate at the mention of their third brother.

His ears were ringing and he could hear his heart clearly in his ears. He couldn't breathe! He squeezed his eyes shut and grind his teeth together. This was bad.

His eyes snapped open when he felt light and fell on the ground. He'd heard Sabo yell out incoherently and next thing he knew he was on the snow covered thick ice layer.

He looked up and saw Thatch and Marco holding Sabo down, the knife fallen in the snow somewhere.

"Luffy RUN!" Marco yelled, grunting when Sabo managed to kick him in the stomach. Sabo roared and his eyes locked on with Luffy's, the blue eyes were blazing.

 _A monster._

A terrifying monster, a being straight out of his nightmares. Luffy swallowed and staggered to get on his feet. Thatch was cursing and using everything he'd to hold the man down. Who would have guessed the guy had this much strength in him! He was smaller build than them but _holy shit he_ was having a lot of trouble holding him down!

He glanced over his shoulder to see the kid's back in the distance. His eyes widened at the direction the kid had taken. Marco yelped when Sabo tried to push himself off the ground.

"GET OFF ME YOU MISERABLE SHITS! HE'S MINE!" the man roared, Marco bit his lip and used his whole weight to keep the man's chest on ground. He glanced quickly at Thatch and saw him staring off to the distance, where Luffy had gone off to.

"Thatch! Help me keep this lunatic down or he will go after the kid, yoi!"

"M-Marco…"

Sabo looked up through his bangs and saw the moment of hesitation. He used it to bang his head to Marco's midriff, all the air left the man and he was left dazed on the ice. The man's hold on Sabo loosened and it didn't take long for him to struggle his way from Thatch's hold alone. The man had been brought back on the current situation too late. Sabo drove his fist square into his face and kicked him in the stomach.

Marco was gasping for the air, Thatch fell next to him hands over his face. The latter coughed and turned to his side, one hand covering his bloody nose. His other hand propped him up and he could only stare at Sabo's disappearing back as he rushed after Luffy. Marco was back on his feet, almost falling back on the snow. His feet were still weak.

"Thatch what the hell happened-"

"Marco… We, we need to get the fire department here now."

"Why would that help, yoi!? When he get to them it'll be too late!"

"No you don't understand!" Thatch fought to get on his feet and grabbed Marco by his scarf. His friend stared him, brows drawn together. "The ice is thinner over there!"

Marco's brows drew back and his eyes widened, he was finally grasping the situation. His head turned to the direction the two had run off to. He was shaking and his hands flew to Thatch's shoulders.

 _Luffy can't swim!_

* * *

Luffy could hear Sabo following him.

He'd made his decision and he'd end everything now. His brother was dangerous and he was his only target. He couldn't let him wander off onto the street and do something horrible to the first person he'd meet.

No, this was his responsibility and he'd take it seriously.

He needed to save the world from Sabo. His friends and relatives, but more importantly - he needed to save _Sabo_ from this Sabo. The real Sabo was still in there somewhere, he needed to find him.

He had gone past the dock's safe area, the open sea was laid before him. He'd see the waves behind the ice layers, parts of ice breaking when the waves hit the ice hard enough. The ice got thinner from here on. He looked down to his feet and chewed on his lip.

This was it.

He slowed down to walking, then stopped. He turned around and waited for Sabo to catch him.

He'd see his brother getting closer. He looked wild, his hair tousled by the wind. He looked like a lion running after its prey - and he was the prey.

It was weird really, how he had been so scared and then so mad at Sabo. But when his brother had had him in his hold and held the knife against him, all the anger had been swept away and all the fear and anguish had returned.

Now he was calm and collected. He was at peace.

Sabo stopped a couple of meters before him and stared him, a small smile on his lips. He looked around and Luffy could see the confusion on his face for a moment.

"So," Luffy began. Sabo's eyes locked with his. "This is it, huh? You want to kill me too?"

"I don't want to kill you, Luffy. I want you to be mine."

"But I already was yours and Ace's, silly," Luffy smiled startling the other. Sabo frowned and raised his eyebrow at him.

"Luffy, what is this?"

"I want to end this, Sabo. But before I do that, let's talk."

Sabo hummed and folded his arms behind his back. He looked around, taking in the white scenery. Snow was coming down softly and the clouds were slowly drawing back. The dreadful night was almost over. Luffy could see the black smoke rising from the from the warehouse area. They had finally taken down the fire.

"Why would you want to talk?"

"We haven't had a chance to talk for a long time, not since Ace died."

Sabo snorted and began to laugh, doubling over. "You, haha, you _can't_ be serious?!"

Luffy said nothing, he stared Sabo's face. The older chuckled and swiped the bangs back, he almost looked like his normal self. His left eye was still covered by his bangs.

"Why did you kill Ace, Sabo? I thought we loved each other," Luffy said gently, a sweet smile on his lips. Sabo said nothing, his expression darkening. He let his right arm fall back to his side, the bangs falling back to cover his eye. "I loved being with the two of you. I loved the evenings we had together, Ace would fall asleep on us and we'd draw on his face, then hide from him when he woke up."

"...ut up…"

Luffy closed his eyes and recalled the peaceful days of their brotherhood. "Or how we'd visit grandpa and create a mess that would take weeks to clean and we wouldn't want to see him for the next two months… his cooking is good though."

"... _shut up…_ "

Luffy beamed up at Sabo, "And we'd visit Dadan! She loved to see us and take sneak pictures of us which she'd use to fill her photo albums with and-"

"I SAID _ **SHUT UP**_ _!_ " Sabo was right in front of him in a blink and swung his fist at him, hitting him on the face.

Luffy flew backwards and hit the ice hard, his head connected with the cold, hard ground. He could hear the ice cracking underneath him. His cheek was burning. He laid on the ice, limbs spread. Sabo was panting quietly, staring at the fist he had used to hit his brother. It shook uncontrollably.

Slowly Luffy sat up, his hand flew up to the back of his head. The ice underneath him made noises that made him tense and he looked up to Sabo. His brother was clutching his own wrist, staring at the fist.

"Sabo…"

"Th-this is… this wouldn't have happened if… if Ace hadn't stolen you from me!"

Sabo looked up, Luffy wanted to go and hug him. He was breaking, his eyes were big and desperate and he was shaking all over.

Carefully, not minding the headache he got from the blow on the head, Luffy got up and took wavering steps towards his brother. Sabo stared him like a deer caught in the headlights. _Was he scared of him?_

Luffy spread his arms and welcomed the other into his embrace. Sabo fell to his chest, clutching Luffy like a lifeline. The younger closed his eyes and listened to the other's sobs and cries.

"Ace never stole me from you… I was never stolen by anyone."

"You two _left me_ ," Sabo sobbed harder. "You didn't come to me anymore like you used to, you always went to him!"

"I'm sorry. I didn't realize this," Luffy heard the ice cracking under them. He could feel it move under him shoes.

"I didn't-, I only wanted to have you _back_! Luffy, why did you leave me to be with him," the older took a step forward to Luffy, who took a step back. He clutched Luffy's arms and straightened to look him in the eyes. The sincerity in the younger's eyes surprised him.

"I never left you Sabo," Luffy intertwined their fingers together and pulled Sabo to him, taking another step backwards. The ice gave an ill sound underneath their weight. The older's eyes widened as he began to grasp the situation. "L-Luffy?"

"You left us," the younger spoke gently. Tears gathered up in his eyes and rolled down his cheeks. Sabo looked around, searching for something. The ice was breaking around them. He was starting to realize his brother's plan. "Luffy!?"

The ice broke under them, bigger pieces of ice drifting apart behind them. Luffy pulled Sabo to him, throwing himself backwards. "Let's go and meet Ace."

They hit the cold water, he had heard Sabo's exclaim before they had submerged. He pulled the other to his body, hugging his brother tightly. He stared the light on the surface getting farther and farther away as they sunk. Sabo was staring at him, eyes wide with fear and disbelief. His face twitched with pain as the freezing water began to have its effects. He got drowsy and the water began to feel warmer around them.

The water was dark but he could still clearly see Sabo's face.

His brother's eyes were closed and small bubbles of air escaped his mouth. He smiled and watched bigger air bubbles raise up to the surface.

The warmth and the embrace of his brother lulled him to sleep and the world went black.

 **x**

 **x**

 **x**

 **x**

 **x**

He woke up from a white hospital bed.

Machines were beeping and he had an air mask over his mouth and nose. His body felt heavy, even keeping his eyes open felt too much.

A shadow appeared in his vision.

He blinked once, then again twice to clear his vision. A familiar face was looking down at him. It was Thatch. The older man disappeared and when he came back, Marco was with him. They both looked relieved but exhausted to the point where they'd most likely pass out at any moment.

"Luffy!"

"Kid!"

"You're finally awake, Luffy-ya", a new voice came from his left. The teen slowly turned his heavy head towards the source of the voice. Law sat on a chair next to his bed, the dark circled around his eyes darker than ever before. "I'm glad."

Luffy smiled tiredly and allowed Marco to help him to sit up. Law removed the mask and gave the kid a glass of water. As he drank down the liquid, he began to realize his surroundings and they weren't the only ones in the room.

Edward Newgate, Ace's boss and a man his brother had looked up to, sat in the chair by the window and Shanks was there too. The red-haired man looked tired and worn out, his shirt was crumpled and his hair was a mess. The man raised his hand and smiled, "Morning Anchor."

 **xxxxxx**

He was alive.

He had made peace with the death but he was still alive.

Ace hadn't wanted him up there with him just yet.

The thought made him smile.

"Doctors say you have a small concussion and you suffer from hypothermia and some other stupid things for staying underwater for too long," Shanks told him when Luffy had received the okay to sit up from the doctors. They hadn't been thrilled when they had learned Law had removed the mask on his own. (Law would explain the situation to him later with more detail but for now this was enough.)

"You'll stay here in surveillance for at least a month," Marco said and sat next to the red-haired man. Thatch grinned, "Try not to eat the hospital out of money, kid!" Shanks snorted and Edward laughed good-naturedly.

"Wh-what about Sabo?"

The room went quiet the moment the words had left his mouth. The air felt cold and everywhere he looked, he saw dark faces. Only Law seemed unaffected by the sudden mood.

"Luffy-ya, he didn't make it."

Luffy's eyes widened and all of the air left him, he fell sluggishly against the pillows. Shanks put his hand over his knee.

"H-how?"

"When the paramedics found you, you laid on the ice next to the hole. Sabo-ya was found underneath the ice layers, not too far from you", Law spoke coolly, apparently the only one brave enough to speak up.

"They managed to get him out of there and began to give him CPR right away," Law continued, pausing for Luffy to let the information to sink in. "He did wake up but it wasn't for long."

"He, he asked how you were and when the paramedics told him you were alright and on the stretcher ready to be taken to the hospital, he smiled and passed out," Marco continued. He was rubbing his hands together, obviously unsettled. Law eyed him with a deep frown.

"He was brought in the hospital along with you and they began to treat him but he didn't make it. He died when they tried to get him to breath again with machines. He stayed submerged for too long, it damaged his brain and lungs."

Luffy stared Law in horror, eyes moving from person to person, trying to find the lie. Law was the only one who could look him in the eyes, "I'm sorry, Luffy-ya."

The beeping of the machines grew louder and louder to his ears and it was harder for him to get air in his lungs. His hands grasped the duvet for strength and comfort but world had began to spin in his eyes and a scream erupted from someone, or was it him?

He wasn't sure…

Everything went dark once more and he welcomed the warm embrace of the sleep.

 **xxxxxx**

Luffy was released from the hospital a month and a half later.

His grandfather was outside waiting for him, all of his belongings packed in the car. Garp looked up when he heard the doors open and grinned when he saw his grandkid wheeled out by a red-headed man he had known for too long.

"How is my favourite grandkid doing! Is that a grey hair I see on your head, Le Roux?"

"Real funny Garp, I won't fall for that again," Shanks stuck out his tongue, like a proper middle aged man should. He wheeled the chair next to the car and helped the boy up. Luffy thanked him and limped to sit on the front seat next to the driver.

"Are you ready to go, boy?" Garp asked and looked around the yard, "I don't see any of your friends. They didn't come by to say goodbye?"

"They did, yesterday," Luffy grinned. "We're all set to leave!"

His grandfather shrugged, "Alright then."

"See ya later Luffy, I'll come visit you when I've finished all the paperwork I left for Benn," Shanks ruffled the kid's hair. Luffy groaned and swatted the hand away.

"Okay, see you in seven months Shanks!"

" _You little-!_ "

Garp laughed and got in the car, shutting the door after him. He glanced Luffy one last time before he started the car and drove slowly out of the hospital's parking lot.

They drove through the town, passing old and familiar places Luffy had grown to love over the years he had lived here with his brothers and friends.

The trip across the town felt like forever and _heavy_.

Once they exited the town and Luffy saw the sign telling them to have a safe trip, he relaxed in his seat and closed his eyes.

"You okay, kid?" Garp asked, eyes on the road.

"I am now," Luffy said quietly, eyes on the side view mirror.  
The town grew smaller and smaller every passing second. The smaller the town got, the lighter his chest got.

The teen closed his eyes and drifted to sleep, dreaming about the colorful days with his brothers.  
Garp glanced over to see a calm and gentle smile on his grandson's face and smiled himself.

 **~fin~**

* * *

 **[A/N]**

 **And here you have it!  
The happier ending for the story and with this, this story is officially over.**

 **I hope you liked this! :D  
This monstrosity is about 23 pages long, yeah. Calculate that shit and add it to the pain in my right wrist. Yeah!**

 **I was actually planning for Sabo to fall in coma and wake up with an amnesia and unable to produce words, but then I thought to myself "nah", this story needs to end so I can go on and start new ones. This one was fun but I have plans for more Yandere!Sabo fics. :3c So stay tuned if you're interested!**

 **Please leave a review on your way out and if you have something on your mind, please ask away!**

And next I have a message for a Guest with the pen name of **LostDog200** \- First: Happy birthday!  
Second: I want you to know that I am happy to hear that you like this fic and that my story makes you happy, and I have a small message for you. (I can't contact you here and I can't find you on tumblr either so I'm saying it right here and now)

I'm trying to sound as nice as possible, but this has been bothering me the whole week and caused me a lot of headache and even an anxiety attack, so I'm done with being formal and nice:

 ** _I will never, I repeat NEVER, write sexual assault, sexual abuse or rape._**

Never. As a survivor of a sexual assault, this is not something I will tolerate or write about, even if it was about fictional characters.

Rape is something I want no one to experience.  
Never.

 **I made a post about this on tumblr if you wanna read more about it.**

I do not support Mpreg either, because I think it's wrong to the people who want children but are unable to have them, especially men couples. Besides, men bodies don't work like that. Nope. I know it's cute and all, but this is the same reason I don't support genderbent stories. (Why turn one of the two to different sex so you can have a straight couple instead of a gay one?)

I will consider your idea but I will make changes to it.

If you want to have a better discussion with me, please come talk to me on tumblr. ( _samettikettu_ )

 **Sorry for the rant everybody but this is something I** _needed_ **to get out of my chest. This has been bothering me a lot, even my friends are concerned for me because of this.**

Thank you everybody for your support and have a good night! :3c

~ ame


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